Love, Hate, and the Power of Revenge II: Betrayal
by SocialKween
Summary: Abandoned - When Starfire's sister comes into the Titans' lives, their father betrays them, and he may not be the only one. Soon the Titans and their friends and enemies are on Tamaran, ready to fight. BBRae,RobStar. Sequel to Captive
1. Sister Blazefire

Hi, guys! I'm BACK! What's up? This is, finally, up. It's the first chapter of my new story! By the way, if this one turns out to be REALLY fun, then I might – might, I say – write a sequel to this. But I don't really know. I do promise it will be a really good story, though!

I'm not going to write as much crap at the beginning of every chapter anymore, because that must bore you completely out of your MINDS! Anyway, merry x-mas to everyone, and if you're not Christian, then happy whatever you do celebrate (there are lots of other things, don't really feel like listing them, or whatever). I'm in a really good mood, so this will be a great chapter!

Dedication: To anyone who reads and reviews this first chapter! I love you all! Kisses!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. I have written that so many times that you should all have it memorized. But anyway, if you didn't read the prequel or whatever that's called (and I suggest you do, even though I will sum up the OC's in this story that were in the last one), then it means I don't own Teen Titans. Moving on….

**Original Characters from Captive:**

Melanie: She is still alive. She is Terra's sister, and she (not knowing that this was bad) brought Slade back to life. Now she turned good and helped to kill Terra, her sister.

Rough Coyote: He died pretty quickly in Captive, but he was this wolf-like enemy who captured Star in the first place. He was also Philip's friend.

Philip: Everyone (I think everyone) hates him. He pretended to fall in love with Star, even though he was a really big fake. She ended up killing him in a pretty awesome way.

Terra: (Not exactly original, but she was in it.) She was brought back to life by her sister Melanie, and then Melanie ended up killing her… Terra was a really big fake in Captive.

Slade: Is also Batman. They found that out in the last and next to last chapters. Yeah, he pretty much sucks. They haven't killed him yet, though. But they want to. Not really an OC, but I made the Batman part up.

Star's Sister: You haven't really read much about her, but she was mentioned in the last chapter of Captive. You don't know her name, but she claims to be Star's sister. She also dresses very regularly (no purple Tamaran outfits.)

Chapter One: Sister Blazefire

"Um," Starfire said in surprise. "I am afraid I do not recognize you. You claim to be my sister… is this true, um…"

"Blazefire," she explained, flicked a blond lock off her shoulder. "Well, I have lots of different names, but you can call me Blazefire. If you meet my friends or my boyfriend, though, just call me Lana. That's my regular name – Lana Royals."

"Yes, of course," Starfire said politely. "But… you are truthfully a sister of mine?"

"Well, yeah," she said, a little confused. "At least, I think so. When I was about eight, you left." (A/N: I don't know how old Star was when she left, or anything, but we'll say she left when she was young.) "I don't remember you at all, but Mom and Dad say you're my sister."

Robin obviously didn't believe her. "Then why haven't we met you yet? We've been on Earth for a long time, and it looks like you have, too."

"Oh. I didn't really keep contact with Mom or Dad once I left. I left when I was ten, because I got really mad at them. I was invited to a Tamaranian dinner last week, and they told me about you. Now that I see you, I do recognize you a little."

"But I do not remember having a little sister," she persisted. "I was about ten when I left… I have many memories from that age. How can I not remember you?"

Blazefire shrugged easily. "I fought with Blackfire… a _lot. _One time I almost killed her. I was about four. After that, they sent me to another castle to be raised without sisters. They said that you were nice to me, so I left you alone."

"You almost killed her when you were _four_?" Beastboy asked in amazement. "Dude, sweet! We can't even kill her, and we're teenagers!"

"Yes, my green friend here speaks the truth," Starfire admitted. "Please, what magnificent powers do you have, then, Blazefire?"

"What's up with her?" Blazefire asked Robin teasingly. She turned to Starfire. "No offense, but you talk like… well… I don't know, like _no one _does." She turned back to Robin. "Seriously. Does she always talk like this?"

He glared at her. "Yes," he said hotly, "she does, and there is nothing wrong with that."

"Sorry, I just thought it was funny," she said defensively, while Starfire blushed timidly.

"Do not feel guilty," Starfire said quickly. "I may put off many people with this voice… I do not understand some parts of Earthling speech, you see."

She laughed. "I can tell." Robin elbowed her hard. "What is your _problem? _" she asked him angrily, her silver eyes narrowing. Then they became wide as she realized, "Oh, I get it. You two are going out," she said with a mischievous grin. She laughed again. "Nice, Flamey. This guy isn't too hard on the eyes, you know."

Robin blushed, but Starfire raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean by this?"

"Nothing," Blazefire replied airily. "Just… I wouldn't expect you to do so well. What with your speech, and all. But you're pretty, so that must be why."

Starfire still looked pathetically confused, but Robin's eyes narrowed even more into slits. (Behind his mask, that is.) "I am _not _going out with her because she's pretty," he said quickly. Then, seeing Starfire surprised, he continued, "I mean, you _are, _but that's not the only reason why I like you," he explained.

"Whatever," she said with a shrug. "So, do you know any other guys in this tiny town that are worth my time?" she asked obliviously.

"Um, didn't you say you had a boyfriend?" Cyborg asked.

"Oh, he lives in Florida," she explained. "We're more like dating pen pals. He won't know if I go out with someone else. We don't really have anything, anyway."

Not wanting Star to get any ideas, Robin said quickly, "Maybe you should… leave."

"Robin!" Starfire said in surprise. "This girl may be my sister!"

"No hard feelings," Blazefire said quickly. "We can prove it with one call. But answer my question. Any other single guys in this city worth my time?"

"I might break up with my boyfriend, Jake," Melanie replied. She was fairly excited – so far the only girls she knew were the naïve Starfire and the gothic Raven. Blazefire seemed more her style. "If I do, you can have him."

Beastboy grinned. "And Cyborg's single," he added with emphasis.

"I'm not exactly into girls who cheat on their boyfriends," Cyborg said with emphasis. "Maybe someone else, _Lana._"

"Chill out," she said quickly. "Anyway, I brought a Tamaran communicator." She handed it to Starfire. "Ask Mom and Dad, if you don't believe me."

**Tamaran:**

"Blazefire?" Whitefire (Starfire's mother) asked excitedly when she picked up her communicator. "Did you find Starfire?"

Starfire took it gently and whispered, "Mother?" she smiled when she saw the comforting face of her mother. "It has been such a long time," she explained. "The last time I saw you was before I was betrothed… where were you?"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Whitefire said sadly, "but I was trying to discipline your sister. Unfortunately, she is next in line to the throne after you, and she knows no manners. Still, her fighting skills are far more exquisite than yours or Blackfire's, not to put too fine a point on it."

While Blazefire came back on and started to curse at her mother, Whitefire set the communicator down and called for her husband, Stonefire.

"…And for the record," Blazefire said angrily, not realizing that her strict father had picked up, "You are still the worst, most pathetic bich of a mother! I cannot believe that you or Dad would fuing even think that you could convince your own ded daughter that you were a good parent! You are-"

"I have heard ENOUGH!" Stonefire bellowed into the communicator. "Just because you left in search of your sister when you were young does not mean we abandoned you! And furthermore, we HAVE been good parents to Starfire! She has been a good daughter in return!"

She blushed, feeling suddenly short and unsure. Usually she was a bright, more valley-girl type of girl. But whenever things turned to her father, she became unsure. "Oh," she said softly. "I thought you were Mom…"

"Your mother does not deserve that talk EITHER!" he practically screamed. "Now put my daughter on the phone, or I'll KILL you!"

He heard the other Titans wince and growl at this, but he didn't care. He grabbed his stress ball, turned it to stone, and then threw it at the floor. "I want my daughter on the phone NOW!" he repeated murderously.

"Father," Starfire said timidly, "this is not a very nice way to treat your daughter…"

"THAT daughter is a failure," he insisted. "There is still hope for you."

Robin slowly and cautiously walked up to the communicator and his girlfriend. "Are you saying Star is a test that you don't want to fail?" he challenged calmly and defensively.

"And who are YOU?" Stonefire shouted, his face greatly reddening.

"Her boyfriend," Blazefire said, pushing Robin out of the way. "Now, listen. I am going to hang up on you. If you still wish to kill me, then might I suggest a duel here on earth tomorrow?"

He glared at her. "I cannot get to Earth in such a short period of time."

"I thought you were invincible and unstoppable," she challenged, just as Robin had.

"Tomorrow," he said with a curt nod. "I shall be there – armed. I suggest you do the same, my dear daughter," he suggested with a smirk.

She snorted. "Save it for Flame," she said, rolling her eyes. "Besides that, I don't need to be armed. I think you know my powers are fine alone."

He hung up angrily. "WHITEFIRE!" he shouted, and at once his wife rushed in.

"Yes, dear?" she asked nervously. Obviously his conversation hadn't gone well. "Blaze didn't call her Flame again, did she?"

"That girl is a bad influence on Starfire," he muttered. "And she has a boyfriend who NEEDS to go. He is a pathetic excuse for a prince."

"Yes, well, we do not need our daughter to love someone royal. She will still be a Princess, even if she marries under herself. And as for Blazefire, she can live a happy life on Earth… away from you."

"Not quite," he said with a smirk. "I'm going against her tomorrow. If she's as bad as she was before she left, she'll be gone easily. Now, call in our best mechanics. I need to be on Earth in twenty-four hours. Or less."

**The Tower:**

"So you are my sister," Starfire said in shock.

"And apparently you're not exactly Daddy's Girl," Cyborg commented. "Though with that language, I wouldn't think so."

"Very funny," she said, still lightly cursing under her breath. "Listen, do you guys have a training ring, or anything? The last time I fought against my dad, my mother had to ask Blackfire to help me. And I still didn't win, but he called it a tie. I'm way better now, but…"

"Yeah, we have a training area," Cyborg said simply. "But if you think you can train in _that, _you might want to think twice."

She hugged herself defensively. "What's wrong with my outfit?" she asked defensively, tugging pointlessly at her miniskirt to make it look longer than it was.

"We don't exactly want to see under that when you fly," Raven said curtly.

"Fine," she said simply. She put on a fake smile for Star. "Well, it was nice meeting you again, Flamey," she said lightly. "I guess I've got to be going. I don't really need to use your training ring, anyway." With that, she turned on her pink high heel and pranced off, her blonde locks flying gracefully behind her.

"Wait," Starfire said quickly. "I do not wish for any sibling of mine to be left alone. Please, go to your home and change. Then come back as soon as you can to train with us. Perhaps you can even stay the night with us," she added hopefully.

Robin nudged her uncomfortably, but she ignored him.

When Blazefire turned back around, her silver eyes shone with happiness. Cyborg winced at the pain in them. Although Blaze seemed to be more of a bad-girl, she had some good excuses for it – unloving family, no friends… hell, her father even wanted her dead. Unhappily, he agreed with Star and invited back soon.

"But if we think you're trustworthy," Raven said, "Then you aren't getting off so easily. You will have to help us kill Slade. Or Batman. Whichever you prefer."

This wasn't meant to be good news, but that was what Blazefire took it as. "Thanks," she said happily. "You're the best!" With that, she skipped off into the distance.

**Me:**

I got this chapter updated sooner than I thought. But we're going on vacation for the holidays soon, so I didn't really have a choice. Anyway, I'll try to get as many chapters as possible done before I leave – that could be a lot of chapters, it could be some, and it could be none – honestly, I don't have a clue. Anyway, look for the updates!

So, I am expecting everyone who reviewed my last story to review this one!!! Actually, I'm not exactly EXPECTING that. I don't really know what I'm expecting. I just hope you all liked my first chapter back! And I will get to Slade soon, I promise! But Blaze is important in this story, so I had to introduce her with a nice, long chapter. Or at least, a nice chapter. I'm not sure how long it is, but whatever.

One last thing – I might not write another sequel to this one, but I am thinking of writing a one-shot of Robin x Star and Beastboy x Raven (both the same one-shot). Just check my page thingy sometimes and see if it's there. But I probably won't do one until this story is over, because I hate taking forever to update. I think people should take things one little story at a time. Which reminds me – I put up a pretty funny bio thingy on my bio page. You should check it out if you get the time – it's a pretty funny conversation between the Titans and my OC's. I add onto it a lot.

Luvin' being back,

Kweenie


	2. A Blaze of Power and Emotions

In Captive I did a review response chapter at the end, but that was really boring to write, so I'm going to do it chapter-by-chapter in this fic. Anyway, I might update slower than I did for Captive, but it will still be pretty fast. After all, I wrote Captive in about a month. That was really fast, especially for twenty nice and long chapters.

I'll put my review responses at the end of this chapter, but first I'd like to tell you all how great this story is going to be! Yesterday I had a bunch of cool ideas pop into my head, and now I'm sure it's going to be a major blast! (Well, that sounded really lame, but whatever.)

So, how are you guys liking the new rebel Star's sister? They don't really seem to have anything in common with each other, do they? But I'll tell you right now, just so you don't panic – Blazefire is totally for real. She's not going to betray them, or anything, like Terra did. Right now (as in as of now) she doesn't even care about being a Titan.

Dedication: To Pookey, because you were the first person to review my newest story! Thanks a bunch!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. I'd say I owned Blaze and Melanie and Philip and RC and all them, but technically you can't _own _people. So if that's true, the only things I own are the stuff in my room.

Chapter Two: A Blaze of Power and Emotions

**The Tower:**

"Are you guys sure about this?" Cyborg asked worriedly, waiting anxiously yet fearfully for the return of the rebellious Blazefire. "I mean, we barely know her. Star doesn't even remember her. She may really be her sister, but you saw her language back there. Who knows what she's been through? Sometimes being through tragic moments causes a person to go evil, even if they were once good of heart."

"And sometimes the good heart is still there," Starfire explained, an unseen charm and greater purity than usual in her innocent voice. "Blazefire obviously did experience tragic moments with my parents. But even if she is evil now, being with people who love her can mend her broken heart."

Robin was taken aback by these sage words. "She's right," he said with a nod. "Even if she's working for Slade – er, Batman – right now, we can still help her. We can make her betray the enemy and help her new friends."

"She's not working for Slade," Raven promised. "When terra was, I sensed him in her. I can't say I sensed innocence in Blazefire, but there wasn't a hint of Batman or Slade."

"Aren't those the losers you want me to kill?" Blazefire asked brightly, flying back from her house. She was wearing the same type of outfit Starfire had, but it was still different. Instead of the armor and royal stone at the top of her shirt, it was a belt on her pants. They were stretchy and long, and they flared as bell-bottoms on the ends. She had on a top that resembled Starfire's, but it showed much less of her navel.

'Why couldn't she be wearing Star's sports-bra type outfit?' Cyborg found himself silently wondering. 'It'd look great on her, with those big-'

_Whoa! _He thought immediately, jerking back for a moment. _What the hell am I talking about? Blazefire? As if! I'm the leader now! I can't be having any dirty thoughts! Besides, Star's rebel sister? I don't think so._

"Sister," Starfire said in surprise, ignoring the strange attitude from Cyborg. "I am surprised. Why do you not wear the customary Tamaranian purple women's clothing?"

She shrugged. "I dyed all my outfits pink when I left," she explained. "And I changed them to slacks and a scoop shirt so people wouldn't think I was from Tamaran." She winced, realizing the stupidity of her last words. "Well, people don't really know about Tamaran, but you know…"

Starfire looked at her sister's outfit in amazement. "Yes, but why does your royal stone have the Centauri moon diamond upon it? Mine is the Tamaranian royal symbol, as is our sister, Blackfire's," she explained.

Blazefire shrugged again. "Well, when I was on Tamaran…"

As she paused, Starfire playfully urged her on. "Please," she said with an encouraging smile. "Tell us of your Centauri adventures!"

"I didn't go there," she said quickly. "They would never let me anywhere after I tried to kill my nursemaid." She blushed as the male Titans laughed out loud. The females – besides Melanie, who giggled furiously – tried to suppress their chuckles. "It sounds dumb," she agreed, "but it's not. She was whipping me like crazy!"

"Please," Starfire said, a smile still clear on her face, "continue."

"Yeah. So anyway, there was this guy. I mean, I was about nine when I tried to kill my nursemaid, but I still had a boyfriend. Well, not really a boyfriend, but a guy-friend. Anyway, so he felt sorry for me, and he went and got me this. When our parents punished me by taking away my royal crest, I just stuffed this where the old one was."

"You had a boyfriend when you were nine?" Raven asked, her violet eyes dancing with humor and some sort of jealousy. She hadn't discovered the wonders of love until recently. "You sure do get around, you know."

Blazefire blushed. "No, he wasn't my boyfriend. He was just a guy, and he was my friend. But there wasn't anything there."

Starfire couldn't help but notice the regret in her sister's voice. Understanding the stress of not telling your love that you love them, she inquired timidly, "But perhaps you wish something was there?" Her emerald eyes sparkled with understanding.

"Well," she said uncomfortably, "I didn't really think of him when I left. I mean, I missed him as a friend, but I never thought there was anything more. We weren't even that close, but he was the only one who didn't completely fear me." She let out a strangled laugh. "Probably because he was too stubborn to believe anyone was better than him."

"Well, what happened after you left?" Cyborg asked, surprised at his spark of interest in the subject. Why did he give a care in the world?

"I came here," she explained. "And I started living a normal life. I met some twisted people, but then I came to Jump City, and it's pretty safe here."

"What do you mean by 'twisted?'" Starfire asked easily, not suspecting a thing.

"You don't want to know," Raven and Blazefire said at the same time. Robin nodded as well, hoping Blazefire wouldn't bring it up again after this. Not in front of his Star.

"Very well," she said uncaringly. "Please continue."

"So then I met Dean, my boyfriend."

"The one that lives in Florida," Cyborg said just to be sure.

"Yes, the one that lives in Florida."

"The one that you're cheating on," Cyborg continued with a prying grin.

"Not yet," she countered hotly. "Anyway, so one day I was at my friend's school dance. Her name was Hannah, and she was going with her boyfriend while I was going with mine. So when we were there, we snuck into the gym and pulled a Seven Minutes in Heaven."

"Why does everything that has to do with you end up inappropriate and PG-13?" Beastboy asked with a snort.

Ignoring him and Starfire's clueless look, she continued, "But then Rhustin came. He's the guy from Tamaran. He saw me with Dean, and he got way mad." She grinned at the thought. "He punched him and everything, and they got into a big fistfight."

"This does have a happy ending, does it not?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"Um," Blazefire said in surprise. "Not exactly." She laughed. "Come on. You saw me. This is _my _life we're talking about. I hate everyone, yet I'm popular and I have a hot boyfriend. I hate the public, yet I follow the regular trends." She shrugged. "How can a girl like me ever have a happy ending?" she asked wistfully.

"Someday you will," Starfire promised.

"Sure." She rolled her eyes. "Just save it. Anyway, after the fistfight, I broke up with Dean. I thought I could be back with Rhustin. He's not exactly an Earth hunk, but he's less hard on the eyes than even your good buddy," she said with a grin to Starfire.

"Um," Starfire said awkwardly. "I suppose that means he has good looks?"

"You better believe it," she said with a dreamy look in her silver eyes. "Anyway, when I told him I was open for relationship, he looked at me like I was crazy. Then he told me to meet him at the town clock at midnight."

"And you came," Raven snorted. "I _know _he didn't come. It's written clearly on your face."

"He didn't come," she agreed sadly. "He left a note in the balcony, though." She shook her head, taking out a crumpled sheet of paper from her pocket. "I've kept it with me forever. Then I knew that if he ever came back, I could force it into his face and make him feel guilty." She uncrumpled it and showed it to the other Titans.

_Dear Lana,_

_I believe that is what your new Earthling name is. There are many things I do not understand in this world, but one of them is the kind of thing you were doing with the man called Dean. I am sorry if there was any misunderstanding. It appeared that he was harassing you, and my only wish was for your protection. You appeared grateful._

_However, when I spoke to you again the second time, you told me that that was what people on Earth do. Then I asked why you were grateful for me stopping the general flow of relationship. Your response, which we both know, shocked me. I am sorry if any kind of feelings were hurt, but I would sooner die than manipulate a fine woman such as yourself. However, you needed to know that I was in a relationship and I could not enter another one. Please forgive me if you were hurt in any way._

_Lastly, I wish to attain our friendship even through our downpours in romantic relationship. I am sorry I never realized your feelings for me sooner – I might have perhaps returned you ardor then. But now I am in a new relationship, and I cannot give it up. Forgive me for insulting you, but Lady Alexandria is a far more respectable maiden then yourself, the rebel Princess. Being a respectable man, I assume you understand my decision._

_Sincerely,_

_Rhustin Sheerwood_

Starfire shook her head sadly when she saw it. Robin almost laughed at the fact that Rhustin thought Dean was harassing her. Raven felt lucky that she had someone who returned her feelings. Cyborg felt ultimately sorry for Blazefire. Melanie gasped as she read it, and then grinned at Blazefire. "Honestly, sister," she said with a grin. "He speaks more properly than Star. He sounds lame. You don't need him. What you need is a real boyfriend."

"That's why I asked," she explained. "Dean agreed to get back together with me if we took it slowly, but I'm not ready to be in a relationship with him again. I need someone clean. A brand new guy who won't even know about Rhustin, if possible."

Melanie nodded. "I don't know… Jake sounds a lot like Dean." She shrugged. "In fact, I'm guessing Dean's tall, with dark eyes and a sweet six-pack but nothing here or here?" As she said 'here or here,' she pointed to her heart, then her brain.

"I'm sure they have _something _there," Blaze replied. "But he sounds like what I want. I don't want someone who's smart enough to know the complications of my life. I just want a boyfriend because they act like they care, even if they don't."

"So you _want _a mindless boyfriend?" Starfire asked, her eyes wide.

"It's complicated," Blazefire replied, "but yes. Now, can we go train?"

"Um, sure," Robin agreed. "Follow me."

As they left, Cyborg was dumbfounded. The kind of guy like Jake or Dean would ruin Blaze's already hopeless life. He felt that, for once in his life, he was needed to bring change to something different. He didn't have to kill anything. He just needed to bring back the spirit that he knew still lived in her. He could see it dancing around in her beautiful silvery eyes every second.

**The Training Field:**

"Blazefire, you first. I want to see what you've got. Get through this to the other end as soon as you can, got it? The record is Star's. She got two minutes five seconds on this baby. None of us got below three minutes besides Robin. He got two forty." Cyborg grinned, glad to give her a challenge.

She eyed the track in disbelief. "Um, you're kidding me, right?"

"I know it looks hard, but it's easy, I promise. You won't get more than five minutes, I bet," he said encouragingly.

"That's not what I meant," she said with a shrug. "No offense, but this is way easy. I mean, sorry if you guys couldn't get it, but…"

"Easy?" Beastboy choked. "Try it."

"Okay," she said easily. "Stand back."

They nodded and crowded into the scoring area. Cyborg counted her off, and then started the time. Immediately she went to work.

Not that it was much work for her.

Blazefire closed her eyes and a huge blast of silver energy covered the training grounds. When the silver blast cleared, every obstacle in the field had disintegrated. She easily flew over to the finish line at about three hundred miles per hour, and reached her goal with a grand total of eight seconds. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

For about ten minutes, everyone just stood there, staring at her. She blushed furiously. "Um," she said after what seemed like ages. "Don't feel bad, or anything. I just, um, had a lot of practice on my sister and my maid and stuff…"

"No wonder you almost killed Sister Blackfire!" Starfire exclaimed. "It would be easy for someone with your fabulous powers!"

She blushed harder. "Thanks," she said awkwardly. "So, do you guys have anything harder to attack on, or should I just wait until tomorrow?"

Just as she said this, the alarms rang. "It's Slade," Cyborg confirmed after checking the monitors. "He is having a conference with…" his eyes widened.

"Who?" they all demanded.

"…Red X," he finished slowly. "But that's not all. They're coming here-"

Just as he was saying this, Red X leaped up behind them. Before he attacked, he grabbed Star and said with a grin, "As much as I'd love to take you, beautiful, I'm not going to play Rough Coyote today." With that, he spun around, grabbed Melanie, and left, eyeing Starfire and Blazefire interestedly as he did so.

"Who's the new girl?" he asked Slade as he knocked out Melanie and handed her to him.

"A girl with incredible powers," he said with grinning, narrowed eyes. "A girl who shouldn't be with the Teen Titans."

**Me:**

So, chapter two is up! I'm a little disappointed that only two of you reviewed, but I'll learn to deal. As long as my other reviewers start reviewing again soon! Normally I'd be way mad, but I told you to wait until around Christmas time, and it's only like the thirteenth or something, so I didn't expect everyone to find out. Still, if you are reading this and not reviewing, FEEL GUILTY!

_**REVIEW!!!**_

Responses:

Pookey: I know, right? So much love! Lol, thanks a bunch!

Warprince2000: Danke! (That means thanks in German, I'm taking it this year.)

**Sneak Peak for Chapter Three:**

"You can't make me bring someone back to life," Melanie declared, struggling for all she was worth to get away from them.

"Yes, we can. If you don't let us, then you can say good-bye to your dear little friends, the Teen Titans. With a single phone call, I can convince them that you're on our side now," Slade explained. "Now, I'd like you to bring back a young man by the name of Philip…"

Ha! Ha, I am so evil! And you guys remember what Melanie can do, right? She can give people their greatest wish when they come back to life! You know what that means, right? Cliffy, I know. But I do what I must!

Sincerely (take-off from Rhustin's letter),

Kweenie

PS: Sorry if you don't like long chapters! That one had to be long!


	3. Return of Philip

So I'm kind of disappointed that only two of you guys are reviewing, but I DID say that it would be about two weeks, and it was only a wait of, like, three days or something. Still, I hope you guys do start reviewing soon! (Maybe in two weeks you'll start R&Ring, lol.) This chapter has the three criminals I talked about in my summary, and they sort of fight the Titans and stuff. (I'm only good when I actually write the chapters, not in my author's notes.) This chapter is also about X and Robin and Philip all wanting Starfire. Philip? Did I say Philip? Ooh, now you must read on!

Now, on with the story. A lot is going to happen in this fic, and I'm expecting it to be way better than the last one. I mean, maybe not, but I always have high expectations. The pairings will be RobStar (still), BBRae (still), and Cy and a certain OC (can't you guess?) There will be some fights between them (especially RobStar), but it'll turn out okay. But yikes, I'm giving away too much information! Must move on! Oh, wait, also I'm going to have a Robin POV where you find out what happened the day he met Star. Fluff!

Dedication: To **warprince2000**. I already dedicated one to Pookey, so this time you get the dedication!

Disclaimer: IDOTT, but I am beginning to make so many OC's that I'm starting to think if they were in the show, I'd own half of it. If that makes any sense…

Chapter Three: Return of Philip

**The Tower:**

"They have taken Melanie," Starfire cried, trying to ignore the way Red X had just spoken with her. Robin had taken such a long time to admit his love for her, and now X was just staring at her, telling her what was on his mind, so easily…

Robin, who was thinking of X as well, nodded. "Yeah. I don't know where they went. They just sort of disappeared." He was scowling at the ground.

"We should go find her," Starfire agreed, not moving at all.

Cyborg stared at the two with an amused expression. "Sure," he said with a grin. "They went that way." He pointed to the back door. "And once Starfire stops blushing over Red X and Robin stops feeling jealous, then maybe we can go _follow them._"

Blushing harder, Starfire nodded. "Yes, let us commence in our searching for our newfound friend," she agreed, turning to go.

As they left to go, Blazefire shrugged. "So," she said with an amused grin. "You don't want to take back your offer now, do you?"

Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lana," he agreed.

"Yeah, Blaze," Beastboy said with a grin. "I bet you can kill Slade in one little blasty-thing. Man, were you all that out there!"

"Yes, Blazefire, please join us," Starfire begged.

Silently, Blazefire noticed that Cyborg had called her Lana. She wasn't sure how this made her feel. She liked fitting in so much, and it made her feel at home. But how could he know that? None of them were calling him his real name, no doubt.

As she followed them, Robin grabbed Starfire's arm and pulled her back for a moment. "Star, listen," he said nervously, looking timidly into her gorgeous eyes. "Um, you do realize that Red X was flirting with you back there, right?"

"Please, Robin," she said, a soft look on her face. "Do not worry. Red X is evil, and he has captured my friend. I would never consider even speaking to him."

Robin nodded. "Well, I mean, yeah. Sure. But…" he winced. "I don't know. It's just, what would you do if he, er, asked you out?"

She snorted. "Robin," she said quickly. "I do not like Red X. In fact, I believe it could be said that I hate him. Of course I would turn him down."

Noticing the unsure look on his face, she said, "You know me, Robin. Am I the kind of girl who would choose him over you, even if he _was _good?" she asked, her eyes brimming with truth. "I am not, I assure you." She smiled encouragingly, and then kissed him sweetly on the cheek before turning to go. "Come," she said brightly. "We must not let them bring back any other evil villains."

He nodded, trusting her completely. But then something snapped. He just wouldn't be able to stand it if she chose anyone over him. "Um, just promise me one thing. If you _do _decide you have feelings for him or anyone else, just tell me. I'd rather you tell me than keep it a secret, if you can understand that."

She nodded. "Of course. But that will not happen."

He smiled. "I know," he said, relaxing more. "You're right. Let's go kick some bad-guy butt," he suggested. (A/N: Lame, I know, but they have some corny catch phrases in that show, you know.)

They both left to rescue the frightened Melanie.

**The Batcave:**

"Are you sure they won't find us here?" Red X asked Slade nervously, carrying the whimpering Melanie around his shoulders. "They _did _fight you here, after all."

"Yes, but this is a new floor that they haven't found yet," Slade explained. He smirked at the painful girl. "Now, let her go. But fry her if she moves."

X did as he was told. Melanie fell hopelessly onto the floor. As she did so, Red X grimaced. "Why do the good guys get all the hot girls?" he moaned. "First Starfire – she's still too much to bear. But then that silver-eyed girl, and now this cute blonde girl…"

Slade cocked an eyebrow at this. "Yet you failed to mention the psychic one."

"She's not exactly _hot_," X replied rudely. "The girl _is _a Goth, after all. And she's so grumpy all the time. I don't know how that green boy puts up with her."

Glaring at him and Slade, Melanie choked, "Wh… what do you want with me?"

"Well, obviously, we want your powers, pretty lady," X replied easily. "We need to bring someone back." He grinned. "But I want a little more than that. I think I know what your answer will be," he said teasingly, "but what about a date on Friday? You and me?"

She spat in his face. "I don't want to date you or help you."

Slade grinned, as well. "My dear girl," he said with a shake of his head, "you and I both know that your powers do not help you fight. You would need something _more _to fight with. Things that we can give you."

"As if I'd fall for that."

"But you will still help us with this certain person."

"You can't make me bring someone back to life," Melanie declared, struggling for all she was worth to find a way to get away from them.

"Yes, we can. If you don't let us, then you can say good-bye to your dear little friends, the Teen Titans. With a single phone call, I can convince them that you're on our side now," Slade explained. "Now, I'd like you to bring back a young man by the name of Philip…"

"PHILIP?" Melanie screamed. "AS IN FOUL-MINDED, WANNABE-A-FLIRT, MANIPULATIVE SCUMBAG LOSER DORK PHILIP? THE ONE WHO TRIED AND FAILED TO WIN OVER ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND'S HEART? I DO NOT THINK SO, YOU PERVERT! NOT TODAY, AND NOT EVER!"

Slade chuckled, but Red X was interested. "Really?" he asked with a grin. "So this guy is joining me in my quest to win the redhead's heart?"

"Leave Starfire OUT OF THIS!" she shrieked. She knew Starfire had been through enough because of her, and she didn't want enough to turn into way too much.

"Well, I might have gone for her silver-eyed sister. She looked cuter, anyway. But something told me she wouldn't be as easy to win over."

"You're joking, right? Blazefire would be harder than Starfire?" Melanie rolled her eyes at that. "Blaze would date any guy with an inch of muscle if he was taller than her and at least mildly hot. She might dump you in two days, but Star would never consider you."

"Blazefire isn't pure," Slade said. "Neither are you. Only Starfire and Raven are pure."

"Pure?" Melanie inquired, trying to lose her spark of interest.

"Pure of heart," he explained quickly. "You and Blazefire… you have a lot to learn in life. The other two… they have things figured out."

"Raven does?" X asked, rolling his eyes.

"I find the psychic rather intriguing, actually. Far more than that pathetic, speech-impaired alien girl you love so much."

"Someone has a crush," X teased.

"Avoiding that laughable topic," Slade said seriously, "we are moving on to the life I wish to bring back." He smiled at Melanie. "Would you like to bring him back now?"

"Never," she spat, turning on her heel to leave –

- and showing a sword that was strapped to her waist as she did so.

Slade smirked. "I suppose this is the famous sword that Philip had before he died," he chirped. "I could never be more happy, my dear. Now come here, before you get seriously hurt," he instructed calmly.

She did so, but slowly and unsurely. "What do you want with this sword?" she demanded. She had forgotten about it, but Robin had suggested that she keep it to protect it. He had kept it after the battle, and when she was on their side for sure, he had turned it over to her for protection. "And why should I give it to you?"

But it was too late. The job was done. Slade grabbed the sword, hit Melanie in the face, and took her powers with the sword. He smiled murderously and chanted Philip's name. He glared at Melanie. "Why isn't it working?"

"_Hamano Chrinstato Luranintas Currinatitkas!" _she blurted out. She didn't know why. Apparently, Philip's handy old sword had more powers than either of them expected.

Slade repeated the chant. Unfortunately, Philip was reborn.

"Welcome, Philip, to our new trio. We're called the Three Lovers. And you're the third Lover. You're my ally, but also my enemy. I'm going to get Star." X grinned as he said this.

"We're not called the Three Lovers, you're not his enemy, and you are our ally," Slade explained. He turned to Melanie. "Go back to your home now. Tell them everything you have experienced. Tell them that we will be invincible." He smiled. "And tell your friend Blackfire that if she has any sense, she should come here with us. It'll do her good." He grinned again. "And I think I'll dispose of this sword. Thanks to it, Philip has that power in him now."

And he did. That was his greatest wish. His second was to get revenge on the Teen Titans. And his third was to get revenge on Starfire… either that or marry her. (A/N: He hasn't quite made up his mind yet, lol.)

The sword was disposed of.

And Melanie ran.

**Heading to the Batcave:**

"You're all right," Robin said in surprise when they reached the poor strawberry blond. She had puffy eyes, a beat red face, and her knees were shaking in fear and pain. "It's Slade," she said in a shocked, paralyzed voice. "And Red X." She looked at them nervously and then glumly continued, "And one other. Well… and, um, Philip."

Robin's eyes bulged in disbelief. Cyborg slapped his head in exaggeration. Melanie shrugged hopelessly. Blazefire's eyes widened; obviously she was interested. Beastboy almost laughed, and Raven gave him a playful punch for doing so. Starfire's eyes became hollow with fear and hatred.

"Oh my gosh," Blazefire said excitedly, grabbing Starfire's wrist excitedly. "So," she pried. "Who is this guy? Is he hot? Or evil? Or, like, what?"

"He's hot, evil, and a major threat. Especially if he's teamed with the other two psychos." Raven shook her head. "And I think all three of them like Star, apparently."

"No, not Slade," Melanie said, drying her tears. "He likes you, Raven."

Raven looked like she wanted to puke, but Beastboy just looked murderous. "_Slade?" _he asked in disbelief. "Likes _Raven? _When did this happen?"

"It's so cute," Blazefire said perkily with a grin. "I mean, Raven's not evil, but she totally appreciates the genius of silence and stuff. Beastboy doesn't."

Glaring at her, Raven said, "Slade is a moron."

"Yeah," Beastboy agreed angrily.

"Oh," she said, her silver eyes still bulging. She put a tanned hand on her hip. "Sure. I see how it is." She giggled. "But it's still cute, you know."

Melanie faintly smiled. "It sort of is, you know."

"You two are turning Teen Titans into Valley-Girl Titans," Robin said, trying to be insulting. It wasn't working out for him.

"Oh, my gosh," Blazefire said again. "That would _so _work, you know?" Then she glared at him. "Wait, that was an insult. What the fu-"

"From valley-girl to prep to rebel to flat out cussin'. That's great. The sign of a proper woman exactly," Cyborg said sarcastically. He didn't _exactly _know how to flirt.

She rolled her beautiful eyes. "Who needs this proper woman crap?" she asked, her arms crossing. "I'm not in the mood to have this conversation, anyway. I was just trying to have some fun." She glared at him. "But there's no such thing with the _Titans Leader, _I guess," she said grumpily. "Whatever. Let's go beat up these losers."

Cyborg didn't realize that he was spoiling her fun. "Oh," he said, blushing slightly (at least, the human half of his face). "I didn't mean to, um…"

"No hard feelings," she interrupted. She shrugged him off easily, but he could tell he was on her _give the cold shoulder to _list as of now. He could only assume she had one.

"Great," he lied. "Um, well, let's go find them. You said they were in the Batcave, right?" he asked Melanie easily. Or, at least, he hoped so.

"Yeah, in a special place. I'll show you where it is," she promised.

"Great," he said again. He didn't have much more of a vocabulary at the moment. "Then, um, Titans Go?" he tried to state, but it turned out as more of a question.

Raising her eyebrows at him, Blazefire lightly hit him on the head. He still didn't do anything, so she said loud and clear, "TITANS GO!"

And he loved that voice.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Do you know what the Three Stooges were planning?" Beastboy asked Melanie before they went inside. (A/N: I don't own the Three Stooges! And if you're a lawyer trying to sue, I didn't, like, bring them in as OC's or anything. It's called a JOKE.)

"Like I said, they just want to be really bad bad guys, I guess," Melanie replied. "And two of them want Star. Well, Philip might want to kill her, and he might want to have her. I don't think he decided yet. Anyway…"

After that, Robin's mind went cold. He just wanted Starfire to be left alone. _He _just wanted to be left alone. Why couldn't those stupid bad guys just do what they used to do and try to kill? Now they were getting crushes.

Now all they wanted was Starfire.

Besides Slade, who…

…Wanted Raven?

Impossible!

Or was it?

The Batcave: 

"They are coming," Slade said calmly. "I don't mind. Let them come. They barely beat you alone, Philip. They never could beat Red X, and… well, they managed to beat me once. But I was weak back then, not yet reborn." He smiled evilly at the other three. "And back then I was alone. Now we will be invincible, and we will get whatever we want."

"Including Starfire," X said with a grin.

"Unless we want her dead," Philip reminded him.

X glared at him. "Even if you didn't want her dead and you wanted her to yourself, Starfire would be _mine. _Do you hear me?"

They both glared at each other, fuming. They were about to get into a fistfight when a green starbolt thrashed between them. Not even glancing her way, they both grinned. "Welcome, Starfire," Philip said without looking at her. "I've been wondering when I'd see you again." Then he turned to look at her.

She almost screamed, but then something overcame her. She was sick of letting him think he was in control. She had destroyed him once. She could do it again. "I was, as well," she responded calmly. Then she hurled some starbolts at his face.

He dodged them, but they still burned part of his tunic. "Where is the sword, Philip?" she demanded.

"I don't need a sword anymore," he said with a grin. "Ever since your dear little friend let us borrow her powers, that sword is a part of me now." With that, he sucked out her starbolt powers and struck her with a light blow.

"That was a very nice try, Philip," she said with another calm expression. "But I have on Glumberpork today!"

This brought a humorous silence. "Um, Star?" Robin finally asked, trying not to laugh. "Would you mind telling us what, um, this pork stuff is?"

"It consumes attacks," she said happily. "And then… well, it reflects them. With more force. Once I want it to." She then hurled her starbolts back at him with more force, knocking him over hard.

"Nice one, Flamey," Blazefire congratulated, stepping into the light. "Glumberpork – I've heard of this. Mom and Dad gave some to me before I left. It was the only gift I ever received from them. It's way expensive. How much do you have?"

"Barely any," she admitted. "It has diminished from Tamaran. But I found a small bottle of it when I was cleaning my room. It works very well," she added, smiling at Philip.

"I can tell," Blazefire said with a grin. She turned to the enemies. "Listen, you guys think you're all that. But I have news for you. Cyborg got a new sonic cannon installed. Robin had some… recent visits from his ex mentor, and now he's better at martial arts. Starfire has her Glumberpork, Melanie has a gun, and I have some pretty nice blasts for you."

Most of this was bluffing. Melanie had no gun, Robin was no better at martial arts, and Cyborg had no new cannon. Still, they were frightened. "So please stay away from my sister and my new Goth friend, okay?"

**Me:**

Phew, that was long. Really long. At least, on my computer. I know it seems weird that Slade has a crush, but I have this whole love triangle (more like hexagon) thing worked out. Slade likes Raven who likes Beastboy who likes Raven back. Then X likes Starfire who likes Robin who likes Starfire who's liked by Philip, too. X is sort of liking everyone, though. So if you want the biggest chain of all, here it comes:

X likes Blazefire who likes Rhustin who likes Alexandria who likes Rhustin who is liked by Blazefire who is liked by Dean who likes Blazefire who is liked by Cyborg. And, in addition to that, Blazefire might like Jake who is liked by Melanie who likes Jake (sort of). Isn't that just great? So the Blazefire chain is eight people. That's definitely not a love triangle. That's a love octagon.

That is SO like Blazefire.

So review anyway!

**Pookey: **I'm glad you like long chapters, because this is long, too. You're welcome for the dedication!

**Warprince2000: **Thanks!

Okay, where IS everyone who read Captive??? I'd like to know. But thanks, you guys, a ton!

Preview for Chapter Four:

The phone rang five times before the answering machine came on. When the button clicked, the message came on. "Blazefire? I think you are with the Titans now. It's your father. I found out the perfect way to get your attitude together without killing you. I'm going to have you marry someone. But don't worry, he lives on Earth. His name is Aqualad."

You excited? I am!


	4. Another Betrothed

I'm so excited about this chapter! This is going to be great. I tiny summary: Cyborg gets a little jealousy feel when Blazefire learns that she's going to have to get married… but then Starfire and Raven get a tiny bit of a jealousy feel for her, because as we all know, both of them have major crushes on AQUALAD!

About him. Why do people always choose Speedy as their man to make Robin jealous of Star? I mean, people never use Aqualad. I will have you know that Speedy has been in, like, one episode. Aqualad has been in at least three. And while fire is way cooler than water (in my opinion, anyway), Aqualad would be much more romantic. And have you SEEN that guy's muscles? He's the man to make Robin jealous. Or, in my case, Cyborg…

I'll end these boring author's notes soon I promise, but I have TiVo (LOVE IT!), and I was just watching like a bunch of Teen Titans episodes. Did you see "Revolution"? That was so sweet! Not the part where Robin was all old (eew), but when Star was all, "Yes! Let us find Robin first!" And then at the end she gave him that sweet hug! And in Aftershock, there was definitely some Beastboy and Raven! – Inserts sigh here – So why can't they just get it RIGHT?

Dedication: To solodancer789! It's okay that you forgot, I'm just glad you did review! Thanks, it's fun to have you back!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. But all that stuff about me needing to own it to get the pairings right… well, maybe they'll get it right on their own. They're doing a pretty good job as it is, actually. They just need to go from hugging to actually ASKING OTHER TITANS OUT.

Chapter Four: Another Betrothed

**The Batcave:**

"She's bluffing," X said. He wasn't actually sure of this, but he hoped it was true.

"She may be bluffing," Slade agreed, "but as of now she still has enough power to defeat us. Let us depart," he ordered. Then he narrowed his eyes at the Titans. "But we will be back."

"Nice Terminator move," Blazefire muttered. (A/N: GAWD! I DO NOT OWN THE TERMINATOR MOVIES! I really don't want to be sued, so I guess that is necessary.) Then she floated up a little high and let a thin line of her silver blazebolts (we'll call them blazebolts from now on) wrap around Philip. She brought him beside her. "You two can go," she offered easily. "But I think I'll return this guy to the place he belongs."

Red X started to attack, but Slade shook his head. "Let them. I have the sword. We can bring him back easily by taking Melanie's powers."

Red X nodded, and they left.

Melanie's head snapped around to look at Cyborg in alarm. "What now?" she asked urgently. "We can't keep letting them do this."

"You don't have to come with us next time," Cyborg told her. "As for Philip, he won't stay trapped in that for long. Blazefire, hit him with all you've got. Once he's knocked out, we can take him away from here. Hopefully he won't know where his is for long. We can't kill him right now – we'll have to catch him off guard to do that."

Blazefire snorted. "Listen, I can kill this guy easily. But they'll find a way to bring him back."

"He knows your powers," Cyborg argued. "You can't kill him. But you _can _knock him out."

"If I do kill him, you owe me."

"Fine," he said angrily. "I'll pay you fifty bucks if you can kill this guy. But you _can't. _If he has this power in him, he can shield himself even from your attacks. All I'm saying is, you aren't as good as you think you are right now."

"You're _unbelievable,_" she insulted. "You don't even know me. I don't just have these lame blasts of power every now and then, you know. And maybe I don't even think I'm good. But I know I can kill this guy. You're just being an arguing nuisance right now!"

He couldn't believe it. His heart sped up every time he saw her, and yet at moments like this he just wanted to _murder _her. "Fine," he said, "try to kill him. I'll give you fifty bucks, like I said. But don't be disappointed when he survives."

She rolled her eyes. "Fifty big ones coming right up," she said easily. Then she released her swirling cage around him and closed her eyes, revealing beautifully applied pink eye shadow and mascara (the mascara wasn't pink, of course). Then she muttered a few Tamaranian words, opened her eyes, and Philip was in the air.

Raven was taken aback. Could this girl really have telekinetic powers, just like her?

Then she noticed a wind at Philip's feet. It was silver tinted. No, she wasn't telekinetic. She just had some great tricks.

Her hair started to fly behind her as an unseen wind started to push her. But she fought against it and sent a tiny silver sliver into Philip's mouth. By the time it reached his stomach, it burst into a huge ball and blasted him into nothingness.

(A/N: Have you noticed that I'm kind of bad at describing fights? I can see it in my head really well, but I can't jot it down as easily.)

ILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILI

The phone rang five times before the answering machine came on. When the button clicked, the message came on. "Blazefire? I think you are with the Titans now. It's your father. I found out the perfect way to get your attitude together without killing you. I'm going to have you marry someone. But don't worry, he lives on Earth. His name is Aqualad."

LILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILIL

**The Tower:**

"So," Blazefire said, walking into the main room, where the other Titans and Melanie were. She had changed out of her uniform in favor of a strapless, sparkly white shirt and a denim skirt. She had done a great job of washing all the soot and dirt off of her face, and it was back to its smooth, tanned self. "I think a certain someone owes me fifty dollars," she finished smugly.

Cyborg groaned, but he wasn't about to break his promise. As he went to his room to get the money, Blazefire flashed him a smug grin.

"Do you guys ever receive any fan calls?" she asked casually. "Like, from adoring girls who think Robin's hot or whatever? Or guys who like Star or Raven?"

Starfire's eyes narrowed as Raven said, "Yeah, Robin has this whole preteen girl's fan club thing. It's actually kind of funny. But guys are so sexist – they don't really like girl superheroes very much. They're more into damsel-in-distress-type girls."

"I have a fan club, too," Beastboy lied, puffing out his chest. "And they're not preteens. They're full-fledged teenage beauty queens."

Blazefire laughed and said, "So how do you stand the phone calls?"

"We only give our number to very trustworthy people," Starfire explained. "Only family and very close friends know the number of our telephone."

Her eyes rose as she looked at the telephone. "Well, you have three messages already. I wonder who would leave three messages in such a short amount of time. We weren't gone that long, were we?" she asked.

"I've never seen someone with such an interest in a telephone," Raven said simply. "If you want to know who called, then I suggest pressing that button that says 'play messages.'"

Rolling her eyes, Blazefire nodded and pressed PLAY.

"Blazefire? I think you are with the Titans now. It's your father. I found out the perfect way to get your attitude together without killing you. I'm going to have you marry someone. But don't worry, he lives on Earth. His name is Aqualad."

They all gaped at the phone as Cyborg walked in. He had heard the message, as well. When the first message was over, the other two continued.

"Blazefire, I know we have had our differences, but we need you to marry Aqualad. Please understand that we would normally have Starfire or Blackfire marry him, but… well, we understand that Starfire has a, um, boyfriend, and Blackfire doesn't want to live on Earth. So do us the honor, please. It would mean the world to everyone in the family."

Then the third message followed.

"Blazefire! I am going to get there tomorrow, I am going to fight you, and if I win, YOU WILL MARRY AQUALAD! I am sorry if arrogance has gone to your head, but I deserve a reply. The city Aqualad lives in is very… wealthy. Recently we may have gone into some debt. We need this. And I shall beat you. Prepare for tomorrow."

Before anyone said anything, the telephone rang.

"I guess you should pick it up," Robin said with a shrug.

Blazefire nodded speechlessly as she answered it. "Dad, is that you?" she asked timidly. "Listen, I really, really don't want to-"

"Marry the man? I'm sorry, my dear, but he isn't that bad-"

"Just let me fu!#ing finish! I don't want to marry the guy if I don't even know what he looks like. Is he hot? Because if he's anything like that green monster Blackfire had Starfire-"

"Don't remind me," he interrupted. "Things were so hectic before we came back from Algerlad." (A/N: Totally made that up, but I don't know what is with her parents.) "Anyway, he has helped your new friends the Titans before. Just ask them."

"Okay…"

"So, if he is 'hot,' will you marry him?"

She shrugged. "I'll date him. But I'm not going to marry the guy. At least, not until I'm sure he's hot enough, he's not a pervert, he's not shorter than me, and he's not a wannabe or a punk."

"Very well. I shall arrive on Earth tomorrow."

YWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWYWY

"Aqualad?" Raven asked gaping. "You wanted to know if _he _was hot? Trust me, he'll be enough for you, Blazefire. He's probably very much your type."

Starfire nodded. "Oh yes, you are indeed very lucky. Aqualad is a very nice, hard-working man. And he is – I believe the term is 'very muscular?' Yes, he is that."

Raven nodded. "Yeah, and he wears this tight bathing suit thing that shows off his muscles. You'll love him."

Blazefire was encouraged by this, but Robin and Beastboy grabbed their 'girlfriends' and hurled off to talk to them, leaving Blazefire, Melanie, and a very shocked Cyborg in the room. "How tight is this bathing suit thing? Because I don't want a guy who walks around in broad daylight wearing this type of thing…"

Fuming for reasons almost unknown to him, Cyborg said, "He doesn't walk around in broad daylight, Lana. He swims. He's like a sea creature."

There it was again. _Lana. _Why did he call her that? Did it mean anything? Was he making fun of her, or was he trying to tell her something? And why did her heart speed up every time she heard that name? She couldn't have these feelings for someone like _him. _He was half robot! AND he loved mechanics! And he would be a good boyfriend, a committed boyfriend…

…In other words, the kind of boyfriend she didn't want to have.

Then his words sunk in. "He resembles a SEA CREATURE?" she asked in surprise. "How can I ever date someone like that? That's like dating a mermaid guy!"

Cyborg chuckled, but Melanie agreed, "I'm siding with you on this one. I haven't met him. And while Raven and Starfire's descriptions are tempting, I think you should at least _meet _him first. I mean, sea creature? What is up with that?"

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "Besides, do you even want an arranged marriage?"

"As long as divorce is always an option," she replied simply.

"What if you decide that you do love Aqualad? Will your fear of commitment kick in, or will you just face the facts and leave your marriage alone?"

"What fear of commitment? I do not fear commitment!" she said defensively.

Before anyone could argue, the screen came on, and Aqualad's face appeared on it. He smiled at the sight of Blazefire. "You must be Blazefire," he greeted.

She nodded speechlessly. The guy was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen – far more gorgeous than even Rhustin ever was. Cyborg noticed this and became surprisingly cold to Aqualad.

"What do want?" he asked flatly. "We're kind of busy right now."

"Um," Melanie said, trying to cover up for Cyborg's strange behavior. "Is there any… trouble? Because they told me that you've asked us for help before."

"Actually, I just wanted to talk to Blazefire," he said uneasily.

"So talk," Cyborg invited.

"Um… _alone?_" he requested just as uneasily.

Cyborg stood still, and Melanie tensed. Blazefire said, "What is your _deal_?" she demanded. "The guy never did anything to you. I thought you were friends, actually."

Blazefire then grabbed Cyborg's arm and pulled him out of the room. "Is there something going on that you're not telling me about?" she asked, and then looked at him straight on. "Because you're getting way out of hand. Is there something going on between Aqualad and you that you're not telling me… maybe a fight or hatred or something?"

"What are you talking about?" he fumed. "Aqualad's fine, I was just pissed that he would agree to an arranged marriage. And even if there _were _something going on, why would I tell _you_? I have enough problems as it is. I don't need to confess anything to a preppy slut like you!"

"Okay, whoa," she said in surprise. "I mean, I can take it if you don't like me. But don't you think this is a little… much? Look, I'm not a slut, and I can take it if you're calling me preppy. But to my _face, _Cyborg? How cold can you get?"

"I've got to be somewhere," he said hotly, and turned to leave.

"Oh yeah? Where?" she challenged.

"Anywhere besides here."

"You seriously need to self-actualize," Blazefire commented smartly. "My friend's parents were psychologists, and I know for a fact that they would be very disappointed. You should confront your emotions and face them head-on. You're running away from them."

"I don't need a useless alien slut telling me what to do!" he shouted.

Her silver eyes clouded with sadness and hurt as she turned to leave. She hugged herself defensively and said softly as she left the hallway, "I'm sorry I'm not perfect. But there are a lot of things about me that you don't know, and I can't forget about them. I'm never going to be able to be a polite little Starfire or a Goth like Raven who can control her emotions so well." She looked at him one last time, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm who I am for a reason. And unless some major things change in my life, I'm going to stay this way."

WHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHWHW

"Dude, Raven, what was up with you? That was so fake! You were practically worshiping the ground Aqualad walks on!" He glared at her. "Be honest with me now, Raven. Who is hotter, Aqualad or me?" he asked simply. He thought he knew what the answer was.

"Aqualad."

"WHAT?"

"Beastboy, Aqualad is by far hotter than you. But I don't like you because you're hot. I just like you because… I don't know, I just feel that strange way around you. I don't feel that way around Aqualad. I wouldn't actually go out with him – he isn't really my type."

"You aren't supposed to TELL your boyfriend that you think ANOTHER GUY is hot!" he shouted. "You're supposed to keep that little part a secret, Rae!"

She rolled her eyes. "Beastboy, you really shouldn't care. Besides, who do you think is more hot, Blazefire or me? Be honest. I know what the answer will be."

"Good point," he admitted. "But still. Blazefire's just… well, _Blazefire._ It's different with her. It's like, if we were in high school, she would be the snotty cheerleader with the jock boyfriend, and I'd be the nerd with the nerd girlfriend. We just can't be together, and I wouldn't want to."

Raven smiled. "That's how I feel about Aqualad. I'm glad that's over with." With a shrug and a satisfied sigh, she left.

OYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOYOY

"What is wrong, Robin?" Starfire asked in surprise.

"Starfire…" he frowned awkwardly. He didn't really know how to say this. If only his girlfriend wasn't a clueless alien girl. "You shouldn't really say stuff like that when you have a, um, boyfriend. If that makes any sense," he added hopefully.

"Things like what, friend Robin?" she asked innocently.

"Well, like saying Aqualad was good-looking and muscular and hard working and all of that," he explained uneasily.

"Please, why should I not say these things?" she asked in surprise.

"It's just not really…" he decided to make something up. "I don't know why, but it's sort of against the Unwritten Rules on Earth. If you're going out with someone, then I guess you shouldn't really do stuff like that." He rolled his eyes as if he didn't get it. "Some kind of commitment or loyalty thing, I guess," he added for effect.

"Oh, I understand," she said with a nod. "Forgive me. I shall not do it again."

He nodded with a grin. "Great, thanks. I think the only person in there is Melanie," he added when he glanced into the main room. "I guess we should check that out."

OLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Melanie's voice dropped when she heard the others come in. This aroused some curiosity, but it was soon ignored when Beastboy and Raven entered the room. Raven was laughing with him as if she did it every day.

Robin and Starfire smiled warmly at each other, but Cyborg just walked coldly into the room. Blazefire was on the roof.

"Okay, I guess I'll call back later," Aqualad said hastily when he realized that his fiancé was in a very bad mood. "Well. I guess that's all, then," he said awkwardly, and the screen went blank.

"So," Robin said with a shake of his head, grinning at Beastboy and Cyborg. "Raven and Starfire think Aqualad is hot, Blazefire doesn't know what to think, Cyborg's the new leader, Melanie is keeping secrets about Aqualad, and Blazefire might want to go out with either Cyborg or Melanie's ex. Things are going great, aren't they?" he asked sarcastically.

"Just watch Cy like two girls, or Melanie die, or something else crazy like that."

Robin laughed. "It'd be so funny just to see Cyborg like one girl."

"Yeah," Cyborg said absentmindedly. "Like I'd like a girl," he added sarcastically. But in his mind, all he could think about were Lana's beautiful eyes, covered with tears because of him. And deep down, his heart was hurting.

MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

So, did you like it? School's over! Yay! I'm going to Florida in a few days, but I'll try to get chapter five up by then. And I'll work on it there (but I still don't have a laptop, so don't expect me to update while I'm gone). But – sob – I'll have to use pencil or pen and paper.

So, the triangle deepens. Because now Aqualad is in it…

So…

X likes Blazefire who likes Rhustin and maybe Aqualad and maybe Cyborg, but Rhustin likes Alexandria who likes Rhustin who is liked by Blazefire who is liked by Dean who likes Blazefire who is liked by Cyborg. And, in addition to that, Blazefire might like Jake who is liked by Melanie who likes Jake (sort of) and also Aqualad (maybe) who might like her back. And, of course, you can't forget that Starfire and Raven – who may be liked by Slade - have crushes on Aqualad, and he might think they're cute, too. I probably left out some people, but whatever.

**Pookey: **Hehe, thanks, I think that actually worked, since solodancer789 came. And tell me how you like the Aqualad thing so far.

**Solodancer789: **Yay, you're back! Hi! (Welcomes you with a squishing, Starfire-type hug) Thanks a bunch for reviewing again!

**Warprince2000: **Thanks!

Here is a question for next chapter's dedication. It's pretty easy:

_**What was the name of the episode where Mad Mod returned to conquer the USA?**_

If you watch the show, you should get it right. And by the way, I don't know why, but I can't stand all that zany crap. It gets on my NERVES! I only watched it because I knew there would be RobinStarfire in it… Anyway, review!

Luv ya,

Kweenie


	5. Four of Them Trust Me

So this chapter is the one you have all been waiting for! Well, you know, it's the one that I mentioned before. Blazefire is going to fight her dad and see if she has to marry Aqualad. Obviously Slade and Red X are coming to make Philip alive again. And X is going to be his usual flirty self, but Philip is going to decide he wants Star dead. Slade isn't exactly going to be a flirt (okay, as if), but, you know. He's going to like Raven. I just think that's perfect, the loser Slade liking Raven, the Goth. Everything binds together. And it's part of my magnificent love octagon or ninetagon or whatever you say. I hate geometry.

Sorry this took so long, but like I said, I'll try to post on my dad's laptop in Florida when I go on vacation (yay, I get to go parasailing).

Dedication: To dbzgtfan2004, who got the last chapter's question thing right first! Congratulations, and thanks for R&Ring!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. But when I grow up I am either going to be a dancer, an actress, a writer, a manga artist, or a screenwriter person. Maybe I can get a job as an artist or a screenwriter (I actually have no idea what that means, but I think it means they brainstorm what's going to happen in the episodes) for Teen Titans! And then I'll work my way up, and then I'll actually own it! I would just do it the easy way – you know, steal (just kidding!) – but I guess lawyers read these disclaimers. That wouldn't be good. So I'll do it the hard way. Phew, that was a very long disclaimer. Okay, moving on.

Chapter Five: Four of Them Trust Me

"He'll be here any minute," Blazefire said nervously, pacing around the room tensely. She had changed back into her Tamaranian clothing. Her hair was pulled tightly into a high ponytail, and she had given up her pink Nikes (I DO NOT OWN NIKE!) in favor of some combat boots that she had, of course, dyed pink. She even had a pink headband and pink wristbands.

"So," Raven said simply. "I'm glad I'm not the only one with an evil dad, but still. Do you need our help killing him, or can you do it alone?"

"No, please, do not actually kill him," Starfire begged. "He is my father, and he is kind to me, even if he does not show you the same courtesy."

"I don't need to kill him," Blazefire explained. "I just need to get to the point where he's so damaged that he's almost too weak to move. Then I need to obviously be able to kill him, as if I had a silver blaze sword and I was holding it at his neck. Then I would win. Also-"

"You should use that," Cyborg suggested. "The silver blaze sword, I mean."

"Please," Starfire agreed, "do try it."

Blazefire nodded and held out a hand. Slowly, the silver energy shaped itself into a glowing sword. With Robin's help, she carefully carved every important detail into it. Then Raven put a spell on it to lock the transformation.

"Okay, so fight with the sword and your powers…" Cyborg grinned mysteriously. "I know what we should do!" he said excitedly. "We can't fight with her, I'm guessing, since we couldn't when she was fighting Blackfire. But how about we give her sessions and things like that? I mean, Robin could teach her about martial arts. Starfire could show her how to use eyebolts easier – she's a pro at that. I could give her an extra cannon – I have one in the garage. Raven could… um, Raven could show her how to meditate, and then she can do it before she fights, and maybe she'll, um, do better? And Beastboy can just watch and make his famous lame jokes."

"Please, friends, let us not fight," Starfire interrupted. "I do agree with Cyborg. Perhaps we should start right at this moment so that Father does not surprise us before we are ready."

Cyborg nodded. "Okay. Robin, you first. You can teach her about beating up people, or whatever. Everyone else, just pick a place to train her, I guess, and she'll find you."

They all nodded. Robin was first.

I: Robin Teaches Martial Arts 

Robin grinned as he said, "Martial arts aren't easy, okay? I'll tell you that much right now. First of all, you have to know what to expect from your enemies. You know, when they'll attack-" with that he started to punch her, and she easily dodged him – "and when you should," he finished approvingly, letting her take some faulting swings at him.

"That's not good enough," he said, acting as if he were a real, strict trainer. "You're just swinging in every possible direction. Every person goes through a series of steps, but they are usual in a pattern, and they do the pattern over and over again." He demonstrated, moving his legs in a series of lines continuously.

Once she got the feel of his moves, she started to aim not where he was, but where she knew he would end up. He was pretty good at avoiding her, but she kneed him in the jaw a few times and was able to hit his side another few times.

"You're getting better," he congratulated, "but you still need some work. A lot of peoples' step patterns are more complicated than this." For about half an hour, he continued to move in patterns and she rapidly learned what he was trying to explain to her.

"Now you have most of it down," he said when that was over. "But we still have some basics to cover. If your father gets you down on the ground, you will think it's over. You're at the point where he is about to kill you – or almost kill you, whatever your contest rules are – and you are sure you're going to lose. But that's not true. He'll see you lying there and give you a careless kick or punch. That's your chance – he won't be expecting anything. Grab his leg or arm and twist it as hard as you can. This will flip him over, knock him out, and then your chance to hold the sword to his throat kicks in."

He had her get on the ground and practice it. In no time, Robin was sure that she knew all the important basics of martial arts. She was definitely trustworthy, he decided. With that, he sent her off to learn from Starfire.

**II. Starfire Teaches About Eyebolts**

"So," Blazefire said with a smile. "Flamey. You can really control your eyebolts? Because even I can't do that," she admitted easily.

Starfire looked a little surprised, but still happy. "I am glad I can be of service," she said with a smile. "I transformed only a few months ago, actually. I have learned how to control them quite well. The trick is to use only some of your eye power, and not to use thick blasts. If you use more thin ones, then the power of eyes will bend to your will and let you use the power of sight better," she explained.

"You didn't sound like your normal self for a while there," Blazefire teased. "Until you started in with the whole 'power of eyes' thing. And the 'bend to your will' thing. But other than that, you're starting to sound more like a regular person."

Starfire blushed, and quickly changed the subject. "So," she said quickly, "please try to use the eyebolts in the thin way that I instructed-"

"Never say 'instructed,'" Blazefire instructed. "That's Tamaranian. Here you say, 'Yo. Use the eyebolts the way I told ya to.'"

Starfire laughed. "Very well-" she started. Then, seeing Blazefire's expression, she said, "I mean, okay. Use the eyebolts the way I told you to."

"Close," she said with some laud. Then she tried her eyebolts. As Starfire expected, there was a huge blast of power off into the distance, but she couldn't see at all.

"Listen to what I have told you about," Starfire pressed, ignoring Blazefire's reminder look. "I shall get back to your talk once I am finished explaining," she finally agreed. "But I have told you to control it to only a thin strand, not the blasts that you usually use, sister."

Blazefire nodded, and tried a thin strand. She was able to aim well and hit the targets she planned. "That's great, Flamey, but this is hardly any power. I'm not going to be able to beat my dad with this."

Starfire smiled. "Once you find your target and the patterns in which they move, you may increase the amount of power you use. Your focus will already have been set."

They practiced for a while, and soon Blazefire had the hang of it. Starfire cheered happily. "You are a glorious learner," she congratulated. "I am pleased with your progression. I do hope you stay with the Titans for as long as you would like. Perhaps you may even become a Titan. I was very upset with Blackfire wanting to become one, but you are different from her. We would all enjoy your companionship if you became a Titan."

Blazefire laughed. "The right way to say that is, 'You learn well. You're not bad, sis. If you need a place to crash, stay here for as long as you want. It'd be fun to have you as a Titan, too.'" Her smile broadened. "And the right answer is 'yes.'"

**III: Raven Teaches Meditating**

"We should just get this over with," Raven said simply. "I'm not your type, and you're not mine. But we need to get this over with. You want to die before meditating, I know. But you need to live with it, because it helps before a battle."

"Have you read my mind recently?" Blazefire asked easily.

"Actually, no. Why?"

"Dude, my pals and I love that kind of thing. We think it's pretty cool. Ever since I met my friend Maddy, we've sort of been into yoga and stuff like that. I even sort of got into poetry. It makes you feel really good about yourself, and-" She stopped, blushing hard. "I mean, um, meditating is for losers, you're right. Let's just, um, get this over with."

Raven wasn't surprised with this cover up. She knew that Blazefire was just trying to fit in, and that she shouldn't be into anything uncool. But after reading her mind, Raven could tell that Blazefire really was smart, and she really did have a big heart. "You're okay, Blazefire," she said with a light smile. Her look softened. "I never trusted you before. But now you're not half bad."

Blazefire was touched by this. "Thanks, Raven," she said in surprise. "I've been trying to get the Titans to like me, but I thought you would be the hardest. I mean, Robin likes me pretty much right now. And Starfire's easy – she likes anyone. I'll just laugh at some of Beastboy's jokes to get him to like me…"

"Hey!" Beastboy said, jumping out of the bushes. "That's cheating!"

"Go back to spying," Raven ordered. "At least we didn't have to hear you talk there."

"For someone who claims to love me, you're not very supportive," Beastboy said defensively, sinking back into the bushes. Blazefire laughed.

"That wasn't exactly a joke," Beastboy told her.

"I know. But surprisingly, it was funny, anyway. Why don't you try not trying to be funny?" she suggested. "Because you're good at it when you're not trying."

Raven shook her head. "Whatever. He's gone. What were you saying?"

"Well, Robin likes me okay, Star does, and I guess Beastboy does. But I thought you'd be hard. But tell me. You really trust me?"

She shrugged. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're a pretty good thing for all of us. I mean, Starfire and I have been the only girls for a long time, and Melanie's too normal to make a difference. We don't want it to be completely cheerful like Starfire, and we don't want it to be completely glum like me. You have your own attitude, but you can still be cheerful and glum. That's a rare thing here."

"But do you trust me?"

"Yes," she finally admitted.

Instead of doing some preppy little victory dance or jumping up and down like Raven had expected, Blazefire just smiled contentedly and started to meditate.

"I think I'm supposed to be helping you meditate," Raven told her.

"You did," Blazefire replied simply.

"Hey, Blazefire," Raven said. "I know interrupting meditation is annoying, but I was just wondering… well, you said that four of us trust you pretty well. But you never mentioned Cyborg."

Blazefire ignored this question for what seemed like forever, but she finally said, "I frankly think the guy loves me, hates me, and wants me dead," she finally said. "And I sort of feel the same way about him."

UHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHOHUHO

Blazefire had easily approached her first mentors. There really wasn't anything to be afraid of with them – you learn things and then you use them. She had been a little timid approaching Raven, but everything had turned out okay. She highly doubted the same thing would be said about her little visit with Cyborg.

As she walked up to the garage where Cyborg's car and his extra sonic cannon were, she was filled with anger, remembering how he had called her a _useless alien slut _and he had insulted her even more than that.

But at the same time as her anger, she felt something else toward him. To herself she denied that it could be love, but she really wasn't sure. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Why would she like someone who reminded her the truth about her every moment of her life… the fact that she really was a slut, and that she didn't have to be that way?

And what about Rhustin and Dean?

Just as she was walking back to her room, Cyborg came out of the garage when he saw her. "Where are you going?" he asked casually, hoping she had forgotten about their dispute earlier. _Of course she hasn't, _he told himself after considering it. _I called her a useless alien slut, and I didn't even have a good reason to._

"Um, I'm just going to change," she lied. "I got my clothes kind of dirty when I was training," she explained, adding to the lie.

He nodded. Of course, he knew she was lying – he was no idiot. "Okay," he said after a moment. "Well, um, come back once you've changed. I found the spare. It's ready to be used."

She nodded, and tried to smile. Then she turned to leave. Once she got to her room, she was debating what to wear. Half of her wanted to wear something perfectly conservative to prove that she wasn't a slut. Some of her wanted to dress casually – jeans and a t-shirt – just because she was considering what Raven had said. And the last part of her wanted to dress in the cutest pink outfit she could find, because she wanted to impress Cyborg. Why she felt this way she had yet to find out.

Finally she went into Melanie's room and greeted her, then looked through her closet. Melanie agreed to let her wear a silver shirt (it matched her eyes perfectly) with a square neckline. It was sleeveless, but not spaghetti-strap. It wasn't as revealing as the shirts she usually wore, but Melanie promised her that it looked even better. She was also wearing some hip-hugger blue jeans with a flashy silver belt and silver sparkles on it that matched her shirt.

"You look great," Melanie promised, "and you shouldn't worry. But I didn't expect his, you know. Might there be someone… that you want to impress?"

"Of course not!" Blazefire said quickly. "I just was considering this offer to be a Titan, and I figured I'd have to get my fashion together, and all. You know, keep it PG."

Melanie laughed, and then became serious. "It's Cyborg, isn't it?"

"Hello, I'm engaged," Blazefire reminded her. "To a hottie."

"I don't care about that," Melanie said seriously. "There are a lot of people in this world who are engaged and still like other guys. The question still stands. It's Cyborg, isn't it?"

Blazefire looked down. "I don't know," she finally confessed. "I mean, I can't tell if I'm in love with him or if I want him to die a painful death."

"That happens every day," Melanie said sarcastically. "But seriously, how can you feel both of those things at once? I'm sure there's just one."

"It's like he can see through me," she explained. "I mean, he knows that I'm trying to fit in, and he respects that. He even calls me Lana. But then he reminds me that I'm trying to fit in, and I can totally tell he wants me to be my regular self. Like, he called me a pathetic alien slut. But I was thinking about it, and… maybe I deserved it," she finished.

"He didn't mean it," Melanie said, cutting to the chase. "As for respect, I'm sure he does. But he's trying to signal to you that while fitting in is okay, you should still stand out. And you need to do something about it, because it's obvious he likes you."

Blazefire blushed. "What do you suggest I do – kill him or kiss him?"

Melanie shook her head. "Neither, obviously. But we need to take time. I can help you, I promise. But first, we need to get some things straight. We are going to do this step by step. First, beat your father. Then tell Aqualad that no can do."

"What about jealousy?"

"We're not sure how much he likes you yet," she explained. "If he sees you with another guy, he might just give up. So take things slowly, but not too slowly. Break things up with Aqualad, and make sure you break up with Dean. But as for Rhustin, I suggest not mentioning him. That way it won't invoke jealousy, but maybe some curiosity."

"You really are an expert, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"But what if it turns out I don't like him?"

"Then you'll probably break his heart. But you'll still learn from him. He's the only one who can teach you that you have to be yourself even if you want to fit in."

"I don't even know who 'myself' is, though," Blazefire said. "I've been a rebel my entire life. I never learned what my real attitude was like."

"Then I guess we'll have to raise you from scratch," Cyborg said with a grin, walking into Melanie's room.

"CYBORG!" Melanie screamed, hurling a pillow at him. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE? BLAZEFIRE WAS JUST CHANGING IN HERE, YOU PERVERTED FREAK! AND WE WERE HAVING A VERY PRIVATE CONVERSATION-"

"Calm down," he said easily. "I just got here when Lana was talking about being a rebel. I didn't see or hear anything," he lied. He had heard it all. He had even – to his pleasure – seen it all. But he wasn't perverted. He just happened to walk by the window occasionally.

"Whatever," Blazefire said with a shrug. "Um, where's the sonic cannon?"

"Actually, I left it in the kitchen. I've got to go." He wasn't ready to face her again – not after seeing those teary eyes. He couldn't make her sad again. He'd probably die.

"Are you sure you can trust a helpless, brainless slut like me with a big old sonic cannon?" she asked angrily. She couldn't help it – there was just a lot of anger there.

"Lana…" he said uneasily. What could he say to that?

"Don't worry about it," she said simply. "You don't know me, and I don't know you. And I don't _want _to know you. So go run your errands or whatever. I'm going to finish this PRIVATE CONVERSATION I was having."

He sighed. "Brat," he insulted as he turned to leave.

"Loser," she snapped back.

"Slut."

"Nerd."

"Prep."

"Pervert."

"Poser."

"Hater."

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Melanie shouted, hurling her other pillow at Cyborg and grabbing Blazefire's wrist murderously. "Now go run your errands, or whatever."

He nodded, and left.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Melanie demanded as soon as the door closed. "WHAT WERE WE JUST TALKING ABOUT?"

"Calm down," Blazefire pleaded. "But still, I know I messed up. Big time. Four of the Titans trust me. But that guy never will."

**Me:**

Hello, my dears! Okay, so sorry about how I'm sort of focusing the entire fic on Blazefire. But as soon as the fight with her dad is out of the way, I'll start spending more time on the other people, including Robin and Starfire – there WILL be some meaningful interference from Red X, you know. Excited? You should be!

The next chapter is the fight with her dad, and also the two bad guys come back, and of course so does Philip. Again. Don't you hate me?

Okay, so I'm really sorry this took so long. I hope I can get a lot done in Florida on my dad's laptop (like I've said like five thousand times). I don't really have anything else to do while I'm there besides go to the beach and stuff. Oh, and Disney World (I DON'T OWN IT) and stuff. (WHO DO YOU GUYS THINK I AM, ANYWAY? BILL GATES? I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE THINGS! AND I DON'T OWN BILL GATES EITHER!)

**Meangenius: **Thanks! I sort of agree that it's a hard choice, but I have someone for Aqualad already, and obviously Cyborg will land the girl. But he needs to stop calling her a slut before something SERIOUS happens!

**Warprince2000: **Thanks!

**Pookey: **Sounds so hot? Have you seen the guy? If it were real life, I'd sure accept his proposal! LOL. Anyway, sorry you can't date. No guys my age can drive (no, I'm not sixteen yet, unfortunately), so they wouldn't take me out or anything, but I'm allowed to go to movies with them and stuff. But our parents come. But I don't really care, because all my friends come and it's like this huge quadruple date or whatever. Not that guys are exactly flocking to my door, but I've had some boyfriends in my lifetime. Okay, anyway, thanks, I'm trying to get it to be a lot of things. And I'm sorry about the computer thing – I really need to write, and I can't write on paper. My wrist hurts after like a minute. Anyway, I know the saying well – beggars can't be choosers. I hear it all the time from my parents – I don't baby-sit, and I never do chores. Phew, that was long!

**Dbgztfan2004: **Thanks! You got the dedication, and I know, Robin and Starfire forever!

**DeathIsMyWayout: **Aww, thank you! I love having people love my stories! Anyway, I like both your names – the death one and the real one. Serenity is really pretty! And it sort of doesn't go with Death, but whatever. LOL -D.

**Solodancer789: **Thanks! I know, I love writing jealousy; it makes me feel so good. Thanks a bunch!

_**What Is the Name of the Episode Where Raven Falls In Love With Malchior?**_

Heehee, and then he ditches her, but I don't want to give away the episode if you haven't seen it. Anyway, like I said, if you watch the show then you should be fine with this. You don't have to answer, but it'll win you a dedication.

R&R people!

Kweenie


	6. The Fourth Hated Enemy

This is the next chapter you've all been waiting for: the fight between Blazefire and Stonefire! And Philip is going to return again! Yay! Wait, no, that's bad. For most people, anyway. Sorry, I'm watching TV and not really paying attention –but don't worry, the Simpsons (I don't own the show, okay?) are almost over.

Surprisingly, I don't have the usual ages worth of talk to talk about. Well, I mean, besides the fact that Christmas is here as I type this, and on my brand new laptop! YAY! I am so excited! By the way, that's why it took so long to update, and I'm sorry, but I was busy yearning for a new laptop and then – _voila _– I got one!

Dedication: To solodancer789, because she got last chapter's quiz question correct first – and because she is a really loyal reviewer! Yes, the answer was obviously Spellbound. Everyone who answered got that one right, I think. Anyway, good job! And thanks to all my other reviewers, too!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. But I CANNOT wait until they start showing the new episodes – don't they start pretty soon? Like as in fifteen days, or something? Right? RIGHT??? Maybe they will FINALLY encourage some Starfire-Robin and Beastboy-Raven for once!

Chapter Six: The Fourth Hated Enemy

**The Tower:**

"My father should be here soon," Blazefire said nervously. "Where do you think we should fight?" she asked Starfire. "I believe that there is a court of tennis in the inner part of town that has been abandoned for some time now, and it would make wonderful grounds for fighting, even if you are fighting your father," Starfire said, narrowing her eyes at the second part.

"And the right way to say that is, 'There's a tennis court downtown somewhere that people don't hang out in much anymore. It'd be cool to fight in it, especially against your abusive father, or whatever." She smiled. "Just work on it, at least when I'm around."

"Um, of course," Starfire replied. Seeing her younger sister's disapproving look, she sighed and said, "I mean, sure I'll work on it."

"Work on the strangled look, but it's better," Blazefire complimented. "At least you know what to say, even if you don't know when to say it."

"So you are going to enter the fight in the court of-" Before Blazefire even shot her a look, she corrected, "You're fighting your dad in the tennis court, right?" she asked with a grin. It was awkward to talk to her in this way, but she found it funny.

"Yeah, I guess," Blazefire replied. "He'll meet us here, then I can take him to the tennis court." She paced around nervously, biting her glossy lips.

"Sister?" Starfire asked timidly.

"Yeah?"

"Might you wish to put your outfit… erm, shouldn't you be wearing something that you can fight in better?" she asked.

Blazefire shook her head. "Dad likes it when he sees me in my Tamaranian clothes. It makes him think he owns me, or something. When I wear my Earth clothes, it makes him realize that I betrayed him, and that I left and I'm not coming back. That gets him pretty mad, and he doesn't fight as well when he's so mad."

"I see," Starfire responded in confusion. "Very well – erm, okay, then." Just as she was brainstorming what to say, the doorbell rang, and Stonefire barged in.

"Starfire," he greeted kindly, then narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice, "Blazefire." He grabbed her arm and pulled her into another room. "You haven't been rubbing off on my Starfire, have you? Because if she decides she likes your clothing, or how you talk to people…" He was simmering with anger.

"What are you going to do, Dad? You're already fighting me," she said with a cool and easy laugh.

He narrowed his eyes. "Fine, then," he said angrily. "Don't take me seriously. But we both know that I will win, then you will have to marry Aqualad, and I can make sure you won't rub off on my daughter anymore. I'll figure out something, even if she doesn't want to come home to Tamaran."

She laughed again. "In your dreams, Dad," she said simply. "I've been practicing."

Before she left for the tennis court with the Titans, her father, and Melanie, she whispered to Star, "Don't do your usual cheers. Say stuff like 'kick butt, Blazefire and 'beat that loser' and stuff likes that. I mean, if you want to make it dirty, you can. But I figured you'd want to do this instead. Got it?"

"Um, yes," Starfire replied. She wasn't about to talk dirty, but the thought of a normal Earthling cheer made her excited in a way. "I shall cheer in your new style."

Blazefire smiled thankfully, and looked up at her father with sheer hatred in her bright, determined silver eyes.

"And so it begins," Robin said with a sigh as he walked up to the others.

"No way, birdie," Blazefire said simply. "It began a long time ago."

"Kick butt out there, Sister Blazefire!" Starfire cheered before she went up there, much to the surprise of Robin and the other Titans.

Stonefire raised his eyes at this as well, and turned in surprise to Starfire. He was about to say something when Cyborg rang the bell early – and Blazefire attacked.

It was a great first attack, a huge blow from her hands, as well as an increasing blow from her eyes. She did a nice HYA as she fought, too, causing the Titans to laugh in amusement.

"You go, girl," Melanie cheered excitedly. Raven was pretending to sit on a bleacher reading her latest horror book, but honestly she was giving Blazefire encouragement through the mind. She liked this girl, and wanted her to win. Badly.

Stonefire was shaken, but definitely not down, as she continued to send her blazes at him, he quickly turned them into stone and hurled them back in her direction. She was busy dodging them, giving him a chance to get up.

That was when they got into martial arts. His move patterns were, as Robin had suspected, very complicated and intense. But she was able to recognize them, and eventually she dodged every one of his punches and kicks and hit him with everything she had.

"You really have been practicing," Stonefire said. "I'm actually impressed. But I'm not tired, my dear. Are you?"

She laughed. "It takes twice as much energy to swing and miss as it does to swing and hit, Father Dearest," she mimicked. "You should be the one who's tired."

He laughed. "Not going to happen," he said simply. Then he continued fighting her, this time getting into his stone powers again.

She was able to blast all his rocks, and she managed to get one of her blazes into his throat and it blew up inside him. He was pretty harmed, but still not down.

"I'm not as weak as some of your enemies are," he said with a grin, looking in amusement over at the bushes. "And I know how to hide."

When he said this, Red X and Slade jumped out of the bushes. "Hate to break up this father-daughter quality time, but we have an ally to bring back," X said simply.

"Who might that be?" Stonefire asked, dodging a few of his daughter's blazebolts.

"Philip, of course," X said, interested in the company. Stonefire was a big man – six foot five, at least – and very broad-shouldered and muscular. Yet he had white hair and stone armor that appeared worn out over ages of time.

"Philip?"

"He has an extraordinary power," Slade explained. "And he probably wishes for Starfire to die by now, his hatred for her is so extreme. But with our help, his help, and your help, your daughter here could easily be defeated."

Blazefire glared, and hurled a blazebolt at X while hitting Slade hard with Cyborg's extra sonic cannon. Then, while they were knocked out, she hurled bigger throat-blow-ups at the two of them while slashing at her father with a sword. "This isn't allowed," she muttered as Slade and X nearly died. "We're the only ones to be fighting."

Stonefire smiled. "Might I suggest a change of plans, then? These two men and me, as well as this Philip, shall fight against Blazefire and three people of her choice."

Blazefire nodded. "Me, Melanie, Starfire, and Raven," she said immediately. "Girl power," she explained instantly.

"But what can I do?" Melanie asked nervously as Starfire and Raven made their way up to the court.

"Well, bring Philip back now, and then suck the life out of him. You can do the same for Slade, since you already killed him once. Then you can just try your hardest to beat up my dad and Red X," Blazefire explained.

"What are her powers?" Stonefire asked.

"Why don't we all get in a happy-go-lucky circle and say our powers in order from youngest to oldest?" Blazefire said in a fake, teasing voice.

"Yes, that would be very exciting," Starfire agreed naïvely, clapping excitedly.

Rolling their eyes, they all got into a circle. First was Blazefire, who was fourteen years and seven months. "Um," she said simply. "I can shoot blazebolts, and I have those throat bomb things-" X and Slade coughed discreetly at this – "and I can make swords and stuff like that. And Raven taught me meditation, Robin taught me martial arts, Cyborg gave me this sonic cannon thing, and Starfire taught me how to use eyebolts."

Melanie, who was next at fifteen years and one month, said, "Um, well, I can bring people back from the dead, and then I can make them die again, usually. And when I bring them back from the dead, they come back with whatever thy most desire."

Next came Red X, who was fifteen and eight months old. "Um, I stole this suit from Robin. It's powered with Synophium, so I use that to create these red X's and use them against the Titans and people like them. I'm also good at karate."

Then came Starfire, who was sixteen and three months. (A/N: I totally am making these up. To me it seems like she's thirteen or something, but that's barely even a teenager, so sixteen is probably more like it, but I wouldn't know.) "I can use eyebolts and starbolts," Starfire said easily. "And I am blessed with the Tamaranian strength."

"Unlike your sister," Stonefire teased.

Ignoring him, Philip (who Melanie had just brought back for fair fight), who was seventeen and six months, said, "Um, now I can take other peoples' powers and use them against them," he said. "And I'm good with a sword."

"I am a karate master," Slade said simply.

Stonefire laughed. "I can turn many things into stone," he said evilly.

"But not your daughter, surprisingly," Blazefire teased.

"Let us begin," Starfire said nervously.

WINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWINWIN

Right when the bell rang, Melanie sucked most of the life out of Philip. Blazefire easily finished him off with the sonic cannon, and he was down before you could say "Loser." Melanie then sucked what she could out of Slade, but it wasn't nearly as much. Blazefire hit him with another throat buster, which caused him to fall, and then she began to use martial arts.

"I have him," Raven said darkly, and Blazefire turned to beat up Red X, who was caught off guard, staring dreamily at Starfire. She sent one of her dark ravens at Slade, causing him to be cast into the dark world that only Dr. Light had once seen. Raven was extremely pissed at Slade for having any interest in her and having Beastboy become jealous.

Slade wasn't as pathetic as Dr. Light was when the raven left him, but he still appeared completely freaked out, and he lay completely still, though not dead.

Raven used her psychic powers to hurl Blazefire's sword at him, and he nearly died, and was canceled out of the battle to sit on the sidelines with Philip. In her mind, Raven sent him a small message: _Never toy with Beastboy's head that way again._

Slade laughed from the sidelines. _So that little green boy is your boyfriend, _he mused. (A/N: I have no idea what that means, but it sounds like a verb for amused, so I used it.) "I'm surprised," he explained, "but not impressed."

_I don't need a bad guy who is a false threat to tell me that he is impressed with me_, Raven sent him simply. _That is my decision, and no one else's._

Just then, Red X hurled a bright red X at her to snap her back to attention. She was able to dodge it, but his second one hit her before she could utter her famous three words.

Starfire smiled brightly and lightly sent a starbolt to destroy her mouth cover, and Raven sent her a mental thank-you. But before Starfire was able to do anything else, Stonefire hurled a rock at her head, causing her to fall and nearly die.

"Father!" she explained in surprise, grabbing her head and hurling a huge green starbolt at him. "Blazefire has been right all this time! You are not father of MINE!" she said murderously, and hurled more and more at him until, finally, he was on the ground and turning what he could of hers into stone in fear. Seeing her sister going at it, Blazefire grinned and pranced over to help her older sister. She mixed her blazebolts with her sister's starbolts, and soon their father was at the mercy of them.

He looked down in defeat and slumped over to two of his comrades on the sidelines. The only person left was X.

He hurled a bunch of X's at Melanie, and then beat her up a little. She was able to kick him off her, but with a single X, he was able to knock her out of the race.

Blazefire and Starfire looked apologetically at Melanie when she left, but Raven brought the sonic cannon to her and blasted X with it hard.

Blazefire and Starfire together made a stronger throat buster, and it was so big that Raven had to use her telekinesis to levitate it into her throat. When it blew up inside of him, he nearly gave up, but instead he grabbed the sword that Slade had given him before the battle and got a throat buster out of Blazefire, then stuck in Raven's throat, with an X coating on the outside. Unfortunately, Raven was out of the game and unconscious.

Blazefire turned abruptly to Red X. "I thought that was Philip's power," she said in some surprise.

"This sword was his before he died the first time," he explained. "When Melanie brought him back to life, he got the powers-"

"Thank you, sister Blazefire," Starfire interrupted while hitting him with a huge starbolt. "You are very good at forming plans." With that, she hurled cast some eyebolts at him angrily.

He grabbed her eyebolts with one of his X's, and thrust them at Blazefire. She dodged him, and then flew into a tree nearby silently.

Frowning, he watched the tree warily. Starfire looked at him curiously. "You do not fight me," she noted confusingly.

"Why would I?" he asked simply, causing her to blush in surprise.

"I do not know why you do not fight me," she said with narrowed eyes, "but I still may fight you," she explained, a starbolt forming in her hands. But she found herself not able to hurl it at him. It might just be her finding something unfair, but she couldn't do it.

No matter what the case was, Blazefire shot a glowing arrow that she had just made of wood at X. It landed straight in his mouth, and another throat buster trickled down his throat. Starfire hit him with a last bolt, and he was out of the game.

Starfire and Blazefire high-fived each other in success, and they looked perfect up there together – both sisters, both winners, and both beautiful. But Starfire had a feeling in her gut that she did not like.

(A/N: I will say right now that this is NOT turning into a StarfireRed X story! Robin and Starfire are made for each other! But I need to bring even better trouble in the story! And if you read Captive, you will know that I can do that by means of JEALOUSY!!!)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"They're good," X noted in disgust.

"You think?" Philip asked sarcastically, his disgust even greater than X's.

"That was the girls, boys," Slade said angrily. "Robin wasn't even _there._ Cyborg, the robot with pretty good powers? Nope. What about Beastboy, the boy who can change into any animal he wants? He wasn't there, either. We were even sicked with the girl who can bring us back to life, and we STILL lost. AND we had a six foot five stone guy on our team."

"That's it!" X said excitedly. "Stonefire, he hates both of his daughters now! He'd LOVE to join us! Why don't we offer? He'll have a chance to get back at his rebel daughter and her sister, his other daughter. His new enemy."

"It's worth a try," Slade agreed, looking at the locating device he had put on Stonefire before he left. "He's just taking a walk. He should pass the Regency Square pay phones soon. Quick, find a directory. We can call him there."

They did so, and sure enough, he picked up. "It's Slade," Slade said simply. "I have a bargain to propose. With practice, I feel we can beat the Titans. And your other daughter."

"I live on the planet Tamaran. I cannot stay here!"

"But it's quite a bargain, my Lord. Once the Titans are destroyed, you are free to go. You probably won't be here for more than six months, if we're lucky. You've left your home planet for that long before, haven't you?"

"I suppose I could join you three for a small period of time, just to get revenge," he said with a shrug. "Yes, I suppose I will," he finally determined. "I shall meet you at – wait, where are you staying?"

Slade laughed. "For all I know, you could be Robin," he said with a grin. "Sit on the bench beside you. We'll meet you shortly."

That was how the alliance of four was built. They were the biggest threat to the Titans ever. This was because they knew the love status of their new rivals.

**Me:**

I think you know what I'm getting at here, don't you? Probably not another captive thing, but Slade and Red X think they can get those guys pretty mad and jealous, if you know what I'm saying. I'm so excited about this story! Oh, and I'm changing the summary, just so you know, so it shows what more of the story is about.

So, did you like it? I think you guys know by now how to answer that question: by clicking the little button! So far I am happy to say I haven't gotten any flames, let's keep it that way! But I like constructive criticism, because it's very nice to me. I like knowing how to make myself a better writer, so don't feel bad if you have something to say about how I write. Good or bad, either one is fine!

Anyway, so I'm on my beautiful new laptop that I love SO much! It's so wonderful! Sorry that the chapter was a little short for the kind of wait you guys got (well, it was a long wait compared to how long you usually wait), but I'll try to update really soon next time, if I can. Still, I'm on vacation. Give me a break!

**Michael Bulaich: **You're right, but you weren't the first person to get it right, sorry. Anyway, thanks a bunch for reviewing! I'll try to keep it up!

**Savi: **Thankies! It's okay that you didn't review, I'm just glad you are now. Yeah, BB and Raven are so cute together. I know you're not a pervert, lol. Yeah, Slade is who I would think, and I love keeping secrets! And, um, my story is yummy? I'm… so glad… are you, by any chance, crazy off Mentos or Sharpies or something? (AH, I DON'T OWN THEM!) LoL.

**Warprince2000: **Thanks!

**D-I-WaRrIa: **You're right, but not the first one :(. Thanks, that makes me feel really happy, and Cyborg is going to get a girl, and the girl is, of course… (will continue later). Yes, Robin will become jealous, and Slade heart Raven is just funny to me, and I need a way to bring down someone so great, or whatever. And to make BB jealous! 3 fathers? That's kinda freaky, but now I want to read it… anyway, thank you SO MUCH for FINALLY answering my question! So… not preppy, lol. I'm not exactly gothic, so no… Diva, maybe… Individual, maybe… your best would be good. But please nothing that has Teen Titans or any shows in it, because I want to do fanfictions on more than one show, so it'd be weird if I was writing a Lord of the Rings fanfiction with an author's name like StarfireIsCool, or whatever. Just do your best, and thanks a TON!!!

**Solodancer789: **Thanks, and you won the dedication! I updated! It's so fun to have you back!!!

Thanks a ton, guys! …Where is Pookey?… her reviews are so funny… anyway, I'll update as soon as I can! Bye!

Luv ya,

Kweenie


	7. Why Do I Feel This Way?

I am writing this right after I posted chapter 6, so hopefully I'll be done pretty soon. Surprisingly for me, I am actually listening to Elvis. I don't usually listen to the King, but he's pretty cool. Anyway, so hopefully this is a fast update.

This chapter is more of that beautiful little man we call the green monster jealousy! Only it'd be weird to call this chapter Green Monster Jealousy again, because I named a chapter in my prequel Green Monster Jealousy. That'd be just a little weird, so I'm going with "Why Do I Feel This Way?" which is referring to the guys feeling all this jealousy and the girls feeling all kinds of weird things with the guys who like them. Those guys need to be arrested in real life, though. Even if you don't like them, you feel all weird around them, and you think you're in love with them in a way even though you're not. Trust me, I know. But don't worry; I've sorted out my problems by now.

Dedication: I forgot to put in a question thing at the end of the last chapter, so I guess I'll just dedicate this chapter to… um… my dad! Yeah, my dad, because he got me this awesome laptop for Christmas, and I am so in love with it!!!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. Let's play a little game. What does IDOPOTC mean? What about IDOLOTR? These are all shortened versions that can be used for disclaimers (Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings). I'm surprised I'm the only one I've seen so far who uses these.

Chapter Seven: Why Do I Feel This Way? 

"Where is Father?" Starfire asked timidly into her communicator. She had called Tamaran, hoping to contact her father without actually speaking to him. Sure enough, her mother Whitefire was the one on the phone, and not Stonefire.

"I thought he was still there," she said in surprise. "Have you tried contacting him on his ship yet?"

Starfire pouted, looking down at the ground. "Father is upset with me at the current time," she explained. "Might you contact him for me?"

"What did you do, Star?" her mother demanded.

"I did not mean to fight him," she said quickly. "But Father had some villains help him against Blazefire, so she invited Raven, Melanie, and I to help her fight him. I was not going to harm him, but he harmed me, so-"

"Why couldn't I have married a sailor?" her mother muttered, and then turned back to her daughter. "Very well, Starfire. I will try to get a hold of him as soon as I can. I'll call you back if I am able to speak with him."

"Mother, why did you marry him?" Starfire asked quietly.

"Goodbye, Starfire," her mother said with a sigh, and she hung up.

"What did she say?" Blazefire asked.

"She'll try to call him on his cell," Starfire said in her "cool" voice.

"Nice one, Flamey," Blazefire congratulated, and then said, "Our dad has a cell phone? Like what is up with that, anyway?"

Starfire laughed, and they got to talking. "Blazefire!" Melanie called from the kitchen. "I need to talk to you!"

Blazefire nodded and went to talk to her newfound friend. "Yeah? What is it?" she asked with a pleasant smile.

"I just heard Cyborg and Beastboy talking," she said nervously. "I think he either hates your guts or he was just saying that to make Beastboy not sense anything. I mean, he wouldn't tell Beastboy everything, but that was what he was saying."

"I still don't think I like the guy at all, if that's what you're thinking." Blazefire snorted. "I mean, he's pretty much a loser."

"Not really," Melanie said with a shrug. "I bet he was a jock when he was in high school. Until he became part machine. But still. He's still pretty muscular and, you know, tall and cool…" she laughed as she described him.

"Well, whatever," Blazefire said with a shrug. "I think I want him to die. Why would I like him, let alone LOVE him?"

"I don't know," Melanie said with a shrug.

"Well, you're thinking something."

"Leading Aqualad on for jealousy would be totally wrong, right? I mean, if you're going to end up marrying the guy after all, at least tell him you're in love with someone else from the start. The guy will have been through enough."

"Okay," Blazefire said with a shrug.

"So…" Melanie smiled. "So you want someone who you won't feel bad about dating. Someone who's hot and all, but who you hate. Someone who you can go out with without puking, liking them back, or feeling sorry for them."

"What are you getting at?"

"RHUSTIN!" she finally shouted.

"Um, that sounds great, Mel," Blazefire said sarcastically, "except for the tiny part where when I DID say I liked him, he totally ditched me and said no. What makes you think he would like you this time?"

"I have been saving up my waitressing money for ages to save up for college," she explained. "But after ditching high school and becoming – or sort of becoming – a Titan, I can avoid all that. So I can use all this money to give you a makeover."

Blazefire cocked an eyebrow at this.

"I'm seeing a deeper, richer blonde," she said with a grin, scanning Blazefire's appearance quizzically. "And some dark blue eyes – you know, that gorgeous sea-at-night color that's surprising but encouraging? I can buy you color contacts that don't have a prescription. I'm also seeing longer and curlier hair – extensions and a hair curler can do that. Your makeup's good, your tan is good…" She smiled. "All that's left is a new wardrobe."

"What?"

"I have a great idea," she said easily. "Mix Tamaranian clothes with Earth clothes. It'll be perfect," she assured her. "I'm seeing your pink Tamaranian miniskirt – you don't just have bell bottoms, do you? – with some pink Ugs." (I don't own Ugs, and I know a lot of people hate them, but they're really comfortable, and if you don't know what they are, they're these furry boot shoes.) "Also a purple halter top with a pink heart on it that matches the skirt. And, of course, you'll need some purple bangles." (You know what bangles are, right? They're those bracelets that come with like fifty to a set.)

"Sure," Blazefire said. "It's a cool idea. But one, I don't want to make Cyborg jealous because I DON'T LIKE HIM, and two, I STILL MIGHT LIKE RHUSTIN! What happens if we do start going out, and this was all for nothing? I don't want to go out with Rhustin! He's a jerk! But I still like him, and I can't help it! How will I break up with him?"

"I'll convince him to dump you if you find yourself in love with him."

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"Let's go right now," Melanie suggested, dragging Blazefire off the sofa.

"Where are you two going?" Cyborg asked in a bored voice. He was mostly just asking because he was the Titans' Leader, right? No, maybe not… Why should he care, though?

"Just… shopping," Melanie said with a grin. "There's a guy who I think is the perfect match for her, and I really want to make her his dream girl."

"You shouldn't change a girl for a guy," Cyborg lectured while secretly going into panic. _Who is this guy? _He thought desperately. _Why haven't I heard of him before?_

"Sure, Dad," Blazefire said sarcastically as she walked out the door.

**Jump City Mall:**

"So, here are some pretty cool extensions," Melanie said with a grin as she walked into the wig shop. "And they're already curled." She called a worker over, and Blazefire tried it on. Sure enough, the first wig they tried matched her hair color perfectly.

"Next up," Melanie said with a grin, "Shoe store!"

"Are you sure Ugs are the right choice?" Blazefire asked nervously. "I mean, honestly. A lot of guys really think they're tacky."

Melanie shrugged. "I guess you're right," she admitted, and then her eyes caught some Birkenstocks. (OMG I DO NOT FREAKING OWN THIS COMPANY!!!! And Birkenstocks are clogs, in case you were wondering.) "Why don't we just get these?" she suggested. "We can buy some purple dye later.

Blazefire nodded. "Smart," she agreed. "Anyone likes Birkenstocks." They paid for the shoes, bought some purple dye, and went to buy clothes.

"The purple halter top has to match the purple in this dye," Melanie explained, searching the racks for the perfect shirt. "And obviously the pink in the heart has to match the pink in your miniskirt. So, let's split up and search."

They shopped at the entire mall before Melanie called Blazefire on her cell. "I found something pretty close," she explained. "It's purple with a pink heart, but it's a sleeveless scoop-neck, not a halter."

"Sounds pretty cool, anyway," Blazefire said with a smile. "You should buy it. Meet me at the jewelry store over by the food court. I saw some cute chandelier earrings and bangles over there."

"You got it," Melanie said with a smile, and hung up.

COOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOOLCOO

They had bought everything. Her entire outfit was picked out and, in addition, she had found some perfectly sized fake eyelashes, as well as some light lip liner and lipstick. They had even gone overboard and bought blue eye shadow to match her new eyes, and bought many more outfits just to make Cyborg jealous.

"This was the most fun shopping spree I have ever been on," Blazefire said when they were eating at the food court. She was wearing one of her newest outfits: some blue jean capris and a spaghetti-strap pink tank, complete with a sparkly blue sweater. (A/N: If you are a guy and reading this, I'm sorry, but I love talking about clothes and shopping. But I do NOT dress this preppy, okay? This is just a character in my story. A slutty character.)

"Well, I want to help set you up with Cyborg. You two are just so cute together! You can refer to me from now on as the matchmaker."

Blazefire laughed. "Sure," she said with a grin. "Look, screwing the matchmaker, I really owe you, Melanie. I know how much this stuff cost."

"Well, I was glad to help," she said politely.

"I'll pay you back someday," she promised. Then, quoting Shrek 2 (WHICH I DO NOT OWN!), she said, "Unless of course I forget or if I can't find you."

They both laughed and happily ate their food.

**Cyborg's Room:**

_What was I thinking back there?_

_What do you think you were thinking, you idiot? You were thinking about Blazefire. Or should I say Lana?_

_Well, I was just thinking about what a slut she is, changing how she looks for a guy._

_No, you were thinking about who that guy might be. And you were hoping that it might be you._

_As if it would be me._

_I never said it would be. But that was what you were hoping._

_Well, it could be me, right? I mean, it's possible._

_Sure, it is. But I think I know who it is. And since I'm you, I think you know who it is, too, eh?_

_She hates Rhustin._

_No, she doesn't. You saw the look on her face when she saw that note._

_I could treat her better, sure. But that doesn't mean anything._

_You like her._

_Why would I?_

_Even you don't know. But something about her… it's called love. When you like someone, you feel that way._

_I do NOT love her!_

_But you would, if you knew she loved you back._

_She does?_

_I never said that. She probably doesn't._

_Won't you just-_

"Cyborg?" Robin asked, knocking on his door.

Cyborg groaned. "What?" he asked grumpily.

"It's me, Robin. I kind of need to talk about something pretty… um, private, and I couldn't really see myself talking to Beastboy about that kind of thing, so…"

"Why not ask your girlfriend?" Cyborg asked grumpily. He opened his eyes to see that he was lying on his darkly colored bed, exhausted.

"Um, because it's about her. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, man. I was just thinking, is all." He turned on his side to look at Robin. "So what's up, man?" he asked as if nothing had ever happened.

"It's just… I could tell something was up with her and Red X earlier, and…"

**Raven's Room:**

_Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos._

_Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos._

Raven's mind strayed to the past.

_Azerath, Quashill, Earth._

_Azerath, Quashill, Earth. _

Knock, knock. "Raven?"

_Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos._

Knock, knock. "Oh, Raven!"

_Azerath, Quashill, Earth._

"Raven, please open your door! I have several facts that I am unsure are actually facts, and perhaps you could-"

"What…do…you…want?" Raven demanded, fuming as she opened her door enough to show her face. As she had predicted, the redhead was standing innocently at her door.

"I wish to inquire with you as to this strange feeling I am having with…"

"Robin?" Raven interrupted. "It's called love. Now please get lost."

"It is that same feeling, I believe, but I am not feeling it with Robin." When Raven turned to look at her in surprise, she said quickly, "Nor with Beastboy."

"It's Red X, isn't it?" Raven asked in her monotone voice.

"Yes, it is he."

"It's probably just that feeling you get when you know someone likes you. It's not the same as love, it's just that everyone likes having an admirer," she explained. She didn't mention that she had her own admirer, and she wasn't sure if she liked that or not.

"Are you certain?" Starfire asked uneasily. "Because I feel exactly how I feel when I look at Robin. I feel as if…"

"No you DON'T!" Raven interrupted loudly and nervously. She was thinking exactly what Starfire was thinking, only about herself. "You love BEASTBOY! Er, um, I mean ROBIN! Yeah! You're not in love with two guys!"

"Then why do I feel this way?" she asked nervously.

"Because you know that he likes you, just like you know that Robin likes you. That's not the love feeling or anything. That's the-"

"Raven, are you feeling the same thing for Slade?"

"Of course not."

"But Slade is admiring you, and you said that everyone likes having an admirer. And you do not seem to like having Slade admire you."

"Oh," she said, blushing. "I guess I feel good about having an admirer."

"Then you are feeling the same thing I am?"

"No."

"I see."

"No, I'm being honest. I don't feel that way at all. Beastboy is a good guy. Slade is a bad guy." _Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos. Azerath, Quashill, Earth. _"I don't like him."

"Of course not."

"Starfire, would you mind leaving?"

"Certainly not." She turned to leave, then said, "Raven, I wish to be your friend, but friends do not keep secrets from each other. But I have a feeling you are keeping a secret from me, even if it is not about liking your admirer. I am sure admirers are just that, but…" She shook her head and left.

_Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos. Azerath, Quashill, Earth. _

_Why do I feel this way?_

**Cyborg's Room:**

"I'm sure Starfire likes you a lot more than Red X, Robin, but maybe… I don't know, maybe you should compliment her more, or something."

"Maybe."

"Why don't you ask a girl who isn't Star who's good at this who you can trust?" he asked. He didn't even realize how obvious it was that these people were exactly like that. He was just suggesting things.

"Of course! Melanie and Blazefire!"

"Oh," he grumbled. "About that… I have to talk to you."

"Okay."

"Not now, though. After you talk to them about Starfire. Oh, just so you know, they're at the mall. But Starfire gave each of them a communicator. She says they're part of the team now. I guess guys don't decide or do anything anymore."

Robin laughed, and then left to call them. "Blazefire? Melanie?" he asked nervously. "I kind of need a girl's perspective of something."

"It's about Star, isn't it?" Blazefire asked with a grin.

Robin sighed. "Yeah. I suspect something, but I know I shouldn't… so why do I feel this way?"

**Me:**

Likey? No likey? Lots of love in this fic, heehee. Especially father-daughter. Oh, and don't forget all the love between Robin and X. That's extreme love right there. And I'm sure there will be tons of love between BB and Slade, no big deal or anything. And I won't even start to get into how much the guy Titans must adore Aqualad right now.

I know, I know, I am dripping with sarcasm here. But hey, I'm pretty excited about this whole thing. I mean, so many people hate each other, and so many people love each other! I think it's a man-hate-man/man-love-woman world in my fic.

So, please review, and read, the works, yada yada, I wouldn't normally even remind you by now, but I love writing on my new laptop, so I'll write as much as I possibly can. So here's the question for you smart geniuses to answer for next chapter's dedication (it should be pretty easy):

_**In What Episode Did Starfire and Cyborg Talk In Cyborg's Room?**_

Hope you get it right, so good luck!

**Pookey: **Yeah, my parents can be annoying, too, about computers and spending "family time" or "quality time" instead. I'm with you there. Yeah, I know what you mean about that. I don't really use adjectives very much, or at least not about what the scenes or whatever look like. I realized when I was looking over Captive that I didn't even describe RC's house. So I'll work on that. Aw, that's so sweet, but you're BLUSHING over THAT? Wow. Lol. I would NEVER break Robin and Star or BB and Raven up. That's just insane. And yeah, here's my update!

**Dbzgtfan2004: **Yeah, I heard they were like January 9th or something, but I'm not really sure. Thanks a ton!

**Savi: **OMG I LOVE MARSHMELLOWS! THEY ARE THE BEST FOOD ON THE PLANET EARTH! AND YES, YOU DO NEED TO UPDATE! PEOPLE WHO DO NOT UPDATE AS QUICKLY OR MORE QUICKLY THAN ME NEED TO START UPDATING FASTER! You really need to stop making the rest of us suffer. Thankies!

I'll try to update soon after this, but it might take a while, because I'm almost off vacation (well, I'm going back home in a few days, anyway), and then I have a birthday party to go to, and then I'm going a little out of town for New Years, so I won't have much time to update. In fact, I might not be able to until I get back to school (that's on, like, the 4th or something). But I'll probably get it done before that. But I leave this time for you all to review!

Luv ya,

Kweenie


	8. Lying to Your Loved Ones

This chapter is about – guess what – couples lying to each other. I know, I know, completely evil. But honestly, I have to put some serious jealousy in this fic, or it will be really boring. I mean, everyone besides Blazefire and whoever she'll be with and Cyborg and whoever he'll be with (hmm… let's think) is already together. That means I need some juice. Heehee, I know, so evil. But I need some juice to make the story dramatic and interesting.

For once, other than that, I have nothing to say but the dedication and disclaimer. Wow.

Dedication: To Savi, who got the question last chapter right. But thanks to D-I-WaRrIa too, because she's helping me with this pen name issue thing. Thanks & congrats to both of you!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. I noticed that Savi is using that, too! I forgot to mention that in my review, but if you're reading, I'm glad! FINALLY someone is realizing the joys of using acronyms or whatever they are besides me! YAY!

Chapter Eight: Lying to Your Loved Ones

"Robin, we got here as soon as we could," Melanie said, looking flustered.

Blazefire nodded. "We suspected something was going on with Starfire and Red X, too. It's an emergency, I know. So we came… as soon as possible," she said dramatically.

"Um," Robin said, masked eyes looking surprised. "Thanks."

"So," Melanie said excitedly, tossing their valuable shopping bags in a heap in the corner of the foyer. "What… exactly… do you feel? I mean, are you just worried, or do you really think Starfire might have the hots for this guy?" she asked expectantly.

"Um," Robin said, once again surprised. "I don't know, exactly. It's just that X is being a royal flirt with her, and what girl can resist that?" he asked with a sigh.

"That means X is smart," Blazefire said with an evil grin.

Cyborg walked into the room. "Are you guys trying to figure out how to defeat X?" he asked with a casual smile. "Maybe I should help."

Blazefire and Melanie burst out laughing, and Robin couldn't help but let out a strangled chuckle. "I think we can handle it," Blazefire said in a teasing voice.

"Um," Cyborg said, starting to blush at being laughed at. "Okay," he said, obviously wanting to know what was going on. Still, he was smarter than just openly asking something like that, so he resisted.

"It's not exactly learning how to defeat X, Cyborg," Robin said with a grin.

Blazefire snorted. "You better believe it is," she announced, earning a nod of approval from Melanie. "This is _war_, Robin. And you are _definitely _trying to defeat X. Just not at what Cyborg thinks," she said with a grin.

"Oh," Cyborg said, looking down at the dirty carpet with a shake of his head. "You're talking about Starfire." Usually a person wouldn't care that his teammate was talking about his or her girlfriend… but Cyborg was jealous. He could feel himself burning up with envy. He wasn't jealous of Star, of course. He was jealous of love.

_Wait, _he thought. _Jealous? Me? The Titans Leader, jealous of love?_

_Yes, Cyborg, and stop denying it. You feel something for Lana, but both of you are too stubborn to make anything happen._

_But she likes that Rhustin guy, doesn't she?_

_Then beat him to her._

_She's a brat! Why would I want to be with her, anyway?_

_Good question. Love appears in strange people sometimes. You've seen Beastboy and Raven, after all._

_So me liking Lana isn't bad?_

"Cyborg? Yoo hoo, anyone in there?" Blazefire taunted, playfully knocking on the robotic part of his head. It was funny, actually – she had to stand on the points of her toes just to touch his forehead. She wasn't the tallest girl in the world, and he was extremely tall.

"Yeah, I'm good," he lied, shaking his head to get out of his silent chat with himself. He shook his head again. He'd been doing that a lot lately, silently chatting with himself.

"Then could you maybe leave?" Robin asked, trying to be polite. "I kind of need to have some female help here."

"That's why Cyborg's here," Blazefire teased. She was still pretty peeved at him because of the whole "Slut. Nerd. Prep. Loser" thing that had happened before. But Melanie elbowed her hard, and she shut up.

Narrowing his eyes, Cyborg turned to leave. Then he turned back around and said, "Just so you know, I hear some footsteps coming downstairs. You might want to split up, in case it's Star. Just act casual."

Blazefire whizzed to the table and started to file her nails, while Melanie rushed over to the kitchen mirror and started to brush her strawberry blonde locks. Robin was easy – he just stayed in his chair and covered his head with his hands, acting like he was thinking about Slade. And since the girls left, he really was.

Sure enough, Starfire came into the room with a singsong look on her face minutes later. "Hello, friend Melanie, sister Blazefire, friend Robin." Cyborg had left. "Might any of you wish to attend a movie at the mall of shopping?"

Blazefire rolled her eyes. Starfire wasn't the best student. "Starfire," she scolded.

"That is," Starfire corrected quickly, "do you want to go to a movie at the mall?"

Robin raised his eyebrows. (A/N: Does he HAVE any eyebrows? Masks don't usually cover eyebrows, but then again, they just make his mask get bigger if they want his eyebrows to rise.) "When did you start talking like that?"

"When I told her to," Blazefire replied for Star with another evil grin.

"So, shall – I mean, will – you go to the movies, anyone?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"Actually, Star, I was having a kind of interesting conversation with Melanie and Blazefire…" He sighed. They were across the room from him now. Why – more like how – could he be having a conversation with them?

"Forgive me for interrupting," Starfire apologized quickly. "Might I join you in this entertaining discussion?"

Blazefire came to the rescue there. "Melanie and I were talking about hot Earth movie stars, and Robin was trying to debate with us about some junk like looks aren't everything," Blazefire lied easily.

"I see," Starfire said, inwardly proud that "her boy" (eep, from Date With Destiny) was the sensible one in the group. "Then perhaps I should leave you alone with your conversation. I do not know much about these movie stars, but Robin is right about looks aren't everything."

"Yeah, sure," Melanie said, waving a hand. "Bye, Star."

Just as she turned to leave, the alarm rang. "It's them," Cyborg said as he came down the stairs. He had a look of panic branded on his face. "How many times do we have to fight these guys, anyway?"

"Perhaps if Blazefire were to meet Aqualad, she may like him, then marry him, and Father would no longer fight her," Starfire suggested.

"No!" Melanie and Cyborg said at the same time, both for different reasons. Cyborg was, of course, feeling jealousy, and Melanie for an unknown reason – probably because she knew how much Blazefire liked Cyborg, or so the others figured.

"Oh, I am sorry," Starfire said, blushing.

"It's a good idea," Robin agreed, "but arrange marriages usually don't work out," he said with a grin toward Starfire.

"Whatever," Raven said, entering the room. "We don't need to dwell on the past right now. We need a plan, and a good one."

Beastboy nodded as he walked into the room. "I have an idea."

As if on cue, they all gasped slightly, raising their eyebrows.

Rolling his eyes, he continued, "Well, whenever there's trouble with them, we always go and stop them, right? Well, what if we ignore them? I mean, they spend a few breaths going somewhere and then messing things up and having our alarms go off. And then we go to attack them, and they just dodge our attacks and eventually beat us up." He took a breath. "Let's let them come to us for a change. Then we can just dodge their attacks."

"That's actually a really good idea," Cyborg admitted.

"I agree," Robin said in disbelief. He walked over and turned the alarms off. They all breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe this would work.

(A/N: I always thought that if Robin just completely ignored Slade besides when he was totally destroying the city, eventually Slade would get bored and invite him into his house, or whatever. It's pretty smart, actually.)

THIRTYMINUTESLATERTHIRTYMINUTESLATERTHIRTYMINUTESLATERTHIRTYMINUTESLATER

"They're coming," Cyborg said into the intercom. "My sensors are going off. They should be here any second…" Just as he finished saying this, a window broke and the four enemies soared through it.

"That was certainly a surprise, Robin," Slade said in his calm voice. "For once, you ignored us. Were you lazy, or were you trying to muster up some skill?"

"Slade," Robin said, but it wasn't in his usual angry voice. He was almost greeting him. "Welcome to the Tower, my friend." He had a grin plastered on his face. It felt good to tease Slade the way Slade had always teased him.

"He's using your lameness against you, Slade," X teased. Red X was probably the only villain to toy with Slade, but he knew he was safe with doing so. Slade wasn't what he once was, and he needed Red X to defeat the Titans.

Narrowing his eyes at Robin and Red X, Slade said, "Well then, Robin, I see you think you will win this way. You are mistaken. Let us fight," he suggested.

Blazefire, going along with the plan, "If you insist." She added an exasperated sigh for humorous effect.

"Yeah," Beastboy said lazily. "I'm not really in the mood for fighting, but…"

Stonefire shook his head. "This is pathetic, even for you lot!" he declared, and hurled a large stone at Blazefire. She yawned lazily as she moved out of the way, and then grinned at him.

"Really, father dearest, are you sure you want to do this?" she asked simply. "Because I find fighting a waste of time. Of course, if you all _want _to waste your time, then I guess that's okay. But I'm really not in the mood for this if you're not, either."

Philip laughed. "I don't have time for this," he said with a shake of his head. He sucked out Raven's psychic powers and hurled a chair at Starfire (who he had recently decided that he wanted complete and utter revenge on). Catching onto what they were doing (for once), she easily hurled a light starbolt at it before it hit her.

"You might be able to dodge our attacks for now," Slade said hotly, "but what will you do? Just let us attack you forever and never attack us?"

"Can you really last forever hurling pointless attacks at us?" Robin challenged.

"We'll last as long as we please," Slade said with his teeth gritted. He started to beat up Robin, but Starfire grabbed his wrists and flew him up to the ceiling, where Slade couldn't reach him.

When Philip tried attacking Melanie, Beastboy changed into the dinosaur he always did and brought her to the ceiling with the others. Raven followed easily, and Blazefire (with a hint of distaste) carried Cyborg to the ceiling.

"God," she muttered once they were hovering fairly far above the others. "Even with this super-alien-strength or whatever, you still weigh a ton!" she teased.

"Half of me is _robotic,_" he said simply. "You would _expect _that if you weren't such a dumb blonde all the time, you know."

She glared at him. "I am NOT a dumb blonde!" she said angrily. "And you might not want to go throwing insults at me while I'm holding you a nice, I don't know, fifteen feet above the ground?" (A/N: First of all, I'm sick of typing A/N, so after this author's notes will be **bold** and regular parenthesis will be regular. Next, I'm guessing their main ceiling is really high up. I mean, it sort of is in the show.)

He glared right back, but said nothing. Melanie, who was nearby, sent Blazefire a nice death glare, and she tried to ignore it.

_WHY do I like her???_

**WHY do I like him???**

_She does nothing but insult me 24/7!_

**He does nothing but humiliate me in front of my new teammates!**

_Why don't I just leave her alone with Rhustin or whoever?_

**Why don't I just ditch him and leave him to make out with his stupid car?**

_Her touch, though… it's not sweaty like some people…_

**You'd think the mechanics would be spooky, but this robotic hand is actually better than human hands…**

_That can't be why I like her! I mean, her HANDS?_

**I KNOW I do not like this guy because he has smooth hands!**

_Maybe it's something else about her… for instance, her, um, hair? Yeah, only her hair…_

**Maybe I like him because of… um, his muscles? Yeah, sure, that's all. Just a crush.**

_I must like her for something special. Like how brave she is about fighting her father._

**It must be something more… like how easily he takes charge, or maybe…**

_Wait! What's that? I need to stop zoning out like this!_

**What's Dad thinking? Is he really going to try to –**

"LANA!" Cyborg gasped. Stonefire had flown up and hurled a huge stone into his youngest daughter's head, and Raven had grabbed Cyborg just in time, even though she was having trouble holding him up. Blazefire, on the other hand, had fallen onto the ground into the open arms of Philip.

"I think we'll be fine with your little friend," Slade said with a grin.

As Philip took her out the door, Blazefire whispered, "I'm sorry, Cy," to Cyborg. He saw it, even though the others didn't. He nodded in forgiveness and mutual feelings, but he felt guilty that he hadn't been the one to apologize.

_Wait! She just apologized to me! What does that mean?_

**He forgave me? That easily? Maybe he does like me as more than a friend…**

_This is Lana! Something must be going on, for her to apologize just like that._

**What was I thinking? He thinks I like Rhustin! He would never like me…**

_This isn't possible. What about that Rhustin guy? She isn't smart enough to make me jealous._

**Or maybe he knows I'm trying to make him jealous…?**

_I think she really is. But why doesn't she just…_

**Why don't I just…**

_Because she's the girl! How unromantic is that, Cy? You should ask her out!_

**He should ask ME out. I am the girl, after all.**

_I can't ask a girl out! That's insanity! I'm the Titans Leader now. Maybe I should just ask Melanie about this…_

**I've got to get away from these guys and talk to him… but my head hurts so much…**

_Yeah, I'll ask Melanie, just like Robin did. She'll know what to do._

**Wait… why is he leaving? Where's he going? Why is he talking to Melanie?**

"Um, Melanie, could I talk to you?" Cyborg asked timidly. "It's something extremely personal, but I figured…"

"Talk to me."

Just as Melanie was saying that, Blazefire mustered up enough strength to hurl some eyebolts at Philip, then she slithered over to Cyborg and Melanie. "Hey, Mel," she said with a whimpering smile. It was pathetic, and the three of them knew it. "Could I maybe talk to Cyborg… um, alone?"

"Sure," she said brightly.

Blazefire turned to Cyborg. She was wearing her Tamaranian outfit that she had first worn, and her regular hair and eye color were on her. Therefore, her silver eyes were boring into his apologetically. "I'm really sorry…" she started, but realized that she couldn't do it. She couldn't confess her feelings so easily. "What was that about with Melanie?" she asked instead.

"Nothing," he lied. He hated this. He was having to do what he had noticed Robin doing earlier: telling secrets and lies to his loved ones.

"Oh," she said, her face falling slightly. What was he keeping from her?

"I mean, I was just talking to her about the whole Starfire issue with Robin," he explained uneasily. "She said she wanted to get as much perspective as she could."

"Oh," Blazefire said again, glad that it wasn't some huge secret – or so she thought. "Okay," she said after a moment, but that word didn't break the obvious silence between the two. Blazefire was worried.

_This isn't how true love works – with uncomfortable silences and everything._

**What's up with this? Shouldn't I be able to talk to the guy I'm supposedly in love with?**

_This is so screwed up. I thought I had my facts straight._

**This can't be happening. Not again.**

_I should have figured something would go wrong. I'm the Titans Leader._

**Rhustin was bad enough. He's worse, even. Love isn't real. It's a myth.**

_A true leader would have seen this coming, though, wouldn't they?_

**Maybe it does exist, but people like me can't handle it. I should back out.**

_I'm not a good leader. I can't take the pressure. I should stop._

**I should tell Cyborg that we should just be friends. I mean, I can't get anywhere with this.**

_That's it. I have to tell her the truth… that I am in love with her._

**Me:**

Don't be too mad, my dear friends. I mean, I know that was an evil cliffhanger, but it was your first of few. Mostly they've just been stops, nothing special. And this is also my first chapter stop during a fight. Sorry about that – usually I finish fights like that in one chapter, but all those thoughts took up some space, and I don't want EXTREMELY long chapters, even though I like long ones, and most of my reviewers do.

Did you like that whole idea about 'let the others attack us?' I mean, it was sort of weird, but it's one of those things that you notice a lot, like 'why aren't there bathrooms' or 'why don't they just get out of the way' (you know, when there's a giant or whatever coming at someone in a straight line, and the dumb person doesn't think to turn). Just answer that question in your review, okay? You know the color of the button!

**Warprince2000: **Thanks!

**Meangenius: **Yeah, I thought adding Stonefire in there would be pretty cool. Yeah, I love those throat-busters, but I guess those guys are pretty strong. I mean, they don't just do this huge BANG like you're thinking; they only blow up a LITTLE, lol. And on this chapter, she apologized! That means no more fights! YAY! And sorry about that little Stonefire thing, but I sort of forgot about that, I guess… sorry! Thanks for reviewing!

**Jjangel9325232: **Ok so I reviewed when I saw that, sorry!!! Anyway, that was cool, and all. But how did you like chapter one, anyway? Thanks!

**TeEn TitAn 14: **Aw, thank you so much, that makes me feel so great! And yeah, I liked that a lot. I'll try to review more of you guys' stuff, but I'm really busy. Here's my update, thanks for being a loyal reviewer!

**D-I-WaRrIa: **Yeah, sorry, I didn't see your review until after I posted. Anyway, I think that penname is really cute, only how do you change it? I think you go to Log In and then Settings and then you change it and press save… is that right? And if you're talking about Baby Can I hold You Tonight, then I read it and it's really awesome, but my computer isn't letting me review right now, so I'll try to review as soon as it lets me!!!

**Solodancer789: **Don't worry, it's fine! Yup, that was right, and thanks a lot!

**Savi: **You got it right first! Yeah, I have the fake Ugs too, and they're really squishy and comfy!!! No, anyway, I read and it was fine, and I read chapter three too!

I don't think I'll respond to my own review, but thanks to everyone! You guys are really sweet!

Love ya,

Kweenie


	9. Stay Away From My Girl

I don't know about you guys, but I for one write these stories chapter-by-chapter. I mean, I have a plot planned out ahead of time, and usually I have the chapter names down or whatever, but I don't write the actual chapter until I post the one before it. But some people write them ahead of time and then, I don't know, edit them later? Anyway, so I'm writing this one after I wrote chapter eight, but I haven't posted either yet, because the Internet's down where I am. Maybe I can even get a few chapters ahead.

Okay, so I have done like all jealousy, but where there is jealousy there is fluff, therefore you should all like jealousy – and fluff, of course. I have fun things like that ALL the time. Anyway, I know you all love the name of this chapter. It's mostly RobStar, because X kisses Star's cheek, and we all know how furious Robin will get. I mean, you know Robin. How could the guy not get furious? How could ANY guy not get furious? By the way, this kiss-the-cheek thing is D-I-WaRrIa's idea, so she gets full credit.

Dedication: To all my reviewers, since I forgot to put a question in last chapter, I think. But thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Ugh, IDOTT. Let's get on with it.

Chapter Nine: Stay Away From My Girl

"I really want to be friends," Blazefire blurted out. There. She had said it, even if it was untrue. She hadn't said she wanted to be _just _friends, but that was what she hoped it would sound like. She wasn't ready for love again, even if it did exist.

Cyborg sighed. He was glad she had gotten that out before he poured out his heart to her, or whatever it was he thought he would say. "Yeah, me too," he said after a moment of hesitation. "All this fighting is getting really, um, sickening."

They both nodded uneasily, and then Blazefire gave a quivering smile. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she said, "Well, okay. What-"

Before she could finish, Philip had lunged at his enemy's sister in attempt to recapture her. Obviously her father's blow hadn't been as strong as he intended… or had it? After that burst of energy from Blazefire, she passed out…

…Only to leave Cyborg to grab her and run away from them. Seeing that she was still unconscious, he hid her in a small vault he found in the roof. He almost laughed when he saw it. Starfire had probably created it to put some ancient Tamaranian treasure in it once she conquered the villain of whatever myth she would next come up with.

Once he came back, he saw that Starfire had gotten furious and given up on the rule they had about let-them-attack-us. She had hurled enough starbolts at them that Slade and Philip were knocked onto the ground. Red X was easily dodging her starbolts.

No one saw it coming. One moment Starfire was hurling starbolts at her admirer, and the next moment Red X sent a red X hurling at her starbolt, which shot back at her. This didn't hurt her, but the starbolt and the red X mixed, causing a small ropelike bind to attach Starfire's hands together and behind her back.

"What… are… you… doing?" Starfire demanded, squirming around inside the bind.

X grinned as he grabbed her and pulled her up on the roof. As he did this, he turned to the others and said, "No one follows, or this girl's life."

OHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOHNOOH

Of course Robin followed. He knew Red X wouldn't seriously take Starfire's life and, more importantly, he needed to make sure X wasn't going to her – or make a move on her.

ROBINLOVESSTARFIREXLOVESSTARFIRECYBORGLOVESBLAZEFIREBEASTBOYLOVESRAVEN

"Let… go… of… me… now… please!" Starfire coughed. It was getting hard for her to breathe by now. This villain sure picked his weapons well.

Red X nodded, and scraped through the X to free her. "I wouldn't have done that in the first place," he explained, "but I needed the others to think I wasn't bluffing. I wouldn't really kill you, you know," he added with a smirk.

She didn't know what to say. He was staring at her without the smirk now, and he had a straight face. He wasn't asking her to stay. He was just staring at her, drowning in her beauty, and she couldn't move. Why couldn't she move, though? Robin was wondering the same thing she was.

After staring at each other for a few more seconds, X said softly, "I guess you'll want to get back to your team, then."

"Yes," she agreed, but she still didn't move.

Red X leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. His lips made their way to her ear and he whispered, "Robin might be there for you on the team, but I'm not the one that haunts you. He still hasn't apologized, has he? For the time he nearly broke your arm, perhaps? Or should I mention when he almost murdered you when you were betrothed instead of the proper thing, which was to tell you that he loved you?" He smiled lightly at her, backing up. "I'm not like that, Star. I love you. I'm not embarrassed to say it. And everyone knows it. But honestly, Starfire, does he?"

ROBINISN'TGOINGTOLIKETHATMUCHISHE?ROBINISN'TGOINGTOLIKETHATMUCHISHE?

Robin was fuming. "Of _course _I love her," he thought murderously. "With all my heart and soul." But she would hate him forever if she knew he was spying on her, so he silently left his hideout without doing what he wanted to do, which was murder Red X.

As Robin covered his head in his hands, he pondered what to do. He couldn't just walk up to Starfire and tell her he loved her – that would be stupid and obvious. But his latest sneaky plans – as in the reason Red X was even there – hadn't worked out well, so he'd need another man's perspective on this one.

Beastboy obviously wouldn't take this seriously, and he knew Melanie or Blazefire would go into hysterics if they heard that Red X had kissed Starfire's cheek and flirted with her even harder than he usually did. This left Cyborg.

As Robin walked downstairs to find his half-robotic friend, he ran into Philip. With a sigh, Robin dodged the psychic objects thrown at him (Philip still had Raven's earlier stolen powers, obviously).

**(I just remembered that Robin probably hates Philip for all he's worth because of the whole Starfire thing, but right now Robin has X to hate more. So even though Robin should probably be murdering Philip instead of going off to find Cy, just bear with me, okay?)**

Robin gave Philip a nice punch in the stomach, and then went off to find Cyborg. However, after knocking on his door and entering his room then searching the Tower (and running into Slade, Stonefire, and Philip several times), he couldn't find him.

As he wondered who to talk to, Robin realized how funny the situation was. Starfire and Red X were standing there on the roof, Raven and Beastboy had gone off to talk, Blazefire was hidden somewhere so not to be found by her father, Melanie was in the kitchen cooking, and – funniest of all – their mortal enemies were roaming around the Tower, looking for someone to fight.

Not being able to find anyone to talk to about what Robin had just seen, he decided to usher the villains out of his home. "Friends," he said with a smirk when he saw the four of them together. "It's been great having you, but I think it's time to wrap things up…"

"Finally, some action," Philip said with a grin, sucking some of Stonefire's powers out so he could use them. Stonefire's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

"Action?" Robin laughed. "Not quite. But thank you for visiting."

"Yeah," Melanie said, walking into the room from the kitchen. "It was terrific having you. I can't wait until next time."

"You really think you can keep doing this?" Slade demanded.

Melanie shrugged. "Sooner or later we'll have to fight you, but for now I think I'll leave you alone."

Slade's eyes narrowed as he turned into a bird **(I know, I haven't had him use the shape-change powers like at all in this sequel yet, but I sort of forgot until now) **and flew off. Red X, who had just come down from the roof, shot out an X to use as a flying disc and followed Slade. Stonefire easily flew out the window, and Philip did the same with Stonefire's powers.

Just before Red X had soared off, Robin grabbed the X and yanked Red X down.

"I figured the Boy Blunder would ignore his 'loved one's' life in favor of the fact that he had a great chance to spy on an enemy," X teased. "That is, I assume you heard our little chat?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," Robin said, teeth gritted. "I just want to tell you-"

"To stay away from your girl," X finished for him. "Of course. Now, there's just one thing wrong with that… after our little chat, I'm not sure she wants to be your girl anymore. In fact, maybe I should tell you to stay away from my girl."

"Starfire is NOT your girl, and she never will be!"

"But she felt something for me," X explained with an everlasting smirk. "And every moment that girl spends feeling something for me, she loses her feelings for you. A girl can't love two men, Robin. I'll be sure I'm the one man."

"You're _evil_," Robin said with a shaky laugh. "Starfire would never date a _bad guy._"

"I don't know about that," X said. "Because once I think I stand a chance with her, I'll give her a perfect speech that I've been preparing for. In short, I'm going to say, 'If you date me, I'll never be evil again. In fact, I'd join the Titans if Robin didn't hate me.' Maybe in a more romantic way, of course," he added with effect.

"You'd give up being evil for her?" Robin asked. Maybe this guy really did have more than just a crush on her.

"Wouldn't you?"

"I'm not evil in the first place."

"But would you give up being _good _for her?"

"Starfire would never want me to be evil!"

"But if she asked you."

"Would I become evil," Robin repeated. "For Starfire. If she wanted me to… well, I don't know. I mean, I love her, but…"

Red X seemed to flinch at that. Robin had always known X was different. The line between good and evil, he always told himself, should have been bold. He had crossed it once before, and so had Red X. And now Red X was realizing that if he did get the girl of his dreams, he would break the heart of another. Even if it was an enemy, X wasn't entirely coldhearted.

"Are you sure you love her?" X asked hopefully.

"Of course," Robin snapped, with all his heart and soul in it.

Red X looked down at the ground in shame. What kind of man was he, to try to steal a girl from another man?

"And you don't," Robin added after a moment. "You never could love."

He said it so coldly that Red X forgot any sympathy he had for Robin. They were rivals, and that was that. That left Red X with one simple decision: get the girl. Once he did, the guy would be so mad, he'd just surrender.

"I'm not going to give up," X said with a shake of his head. "I don't know why, but I feel different when I'm around that girl. And that sweet voice, that beautiful face – I know I love her, Robin. There's nothing you can do about it."

The question he had to ask himself was, was that really love? Or was it just a crush? He knew that it would be evil of him to steal Starfire away if he didn't even love her. But it was too late for thoughts like that. Starfire thought he loved her. Even he thought he loved her. And Robin wasn't going to get his pathetic wish, for X to stay away from his girl. With that in his head, he left.

TIMEFORBLAZEFIREANDCYBORGTIMEFORBLAZEFIREANDCYBORGTIMEFORBLAZEFIREANDCY…

He couldn't stop running. He didn't know what else to do. Blazefire obviously liked him, but she would never like him as anything more than just a friend. After all, she wanted that to be _just friends_. Even if she hadn't said it that way, that was what she meant. If she wanted him to tell her he loved her, she could have waited.

He shouldn't have been upset. He was half robot – he hadn't really thought he had a chance with a silver-eyed blonde babe, anyway. And besides that, she was just a girl. He'd had crushes before. Ever since he left high school, his mechanics drove girls away. He couldn't blame them – he was a freak, even if he was a tall and muscular one.

So why was he running? He shouldn't have been running. He was the Titans' Leader. He always told himself that. He always knew that it was a huge responsibility. But he couldn't take the pressure.

Who did that leave, though? Robin wouldn't accept it. He was far too caught up in Starfire and Red X. Starfire was caught up with Red X and Robin, and besides that, she would never accept leadership. Raven might, although she had her sort-of-hidden relationship with Beastboy. Obviously Beastboy couldn't, for the same reason. Melanie had no powers, and even though Robin didn't either, Melanie was weak – it was just a fact. She was a great help to the team, and she could fight a little, but she was still weak.

That left Blazefire.

The girl could definitely be the leader – that was obvious. Maybe she didn't find this a big deal. Maybe she hadn't even considered a real relationship there, and saying she wanted to be friends was just another apology to her.

But it meant so, so much more to him.

TIMETOSEEWHATBLAZEFIRETHINKSNOWTIMETOSEEWHATBLAZEFIRETHINKSNOW

_Why am I such an idiot? I didn't have to do that. I shouldn't have done that, really. Of course love exists. That's what I always see in the eyes of BB, Rae, Flamey, and Robin…_

_You did it because you had to. You can't face love again. If you have to, you can try to see what will happen with Rhustin. But not for jealousy. For companionship._

_Why should I try to see what will happen with that freak? Cyborg would make a much better 'companion' than Rhustin ever would. Cyborg might actually want me._

_You can make Rhustin want you._

_No. I can't, and you know that. Besides, I don't want to. Cyborg is perfect. I know he wouldn't betray me or lie to me. Or just ditch me._

_Rhustin might still love you. You aren't sure. You don't know if he ever did, but you don't know if he ever didn't. You can still find out._

_What does Rhustin have that makes you like him better than Cyborg?_

_I am YOU. So you like him better, too. And for one, he comes from Tamaran. He's also hot, and you know him. And he never fought with you._

_Yeah. He just ditched me for some dumb Alexandria woman._

_If you keep that sarcastic tone, no one will want you._

_I don't want anyone to want me. I just want to be free of this. Of men in general, even. I just want to…_

_What was that about Cyborg, then? You're giving up on him?_

_I guess I have to…_

_Then why don't you consider Rhustin? He's such a fine man, and with everything that's going on… don't you want to get away from all this?_

_The Titans are my family now. I can't just leave them._

_You can have a new family._

_Rhustin already has a family. And Cyborg doesn't want me, right? I mean, he would have told me he loved me…_

_Of course. But Rhustin might not love that family. Not the way he could love you._

_So…_

_So go inside and change into the main outfit Melanie bought you. Then find Rhustin and make him fall in love with you. Not to make Cyborg jealous, though._

_Right. This one's for real._

OUTOFFIRSTPERSONITALICSBEFOREIDROPDEADOUTOFFIRSTPERSONITALICSBEFOREIDROP…

Blazefire sighed. Her stronger inner girl had won her over. She went into her room to change, then got out her communicator. This wasn't the communicator Starfire had given her, but it was a very old one that she had used to keep in touch with her few Tamaranian friends.

She wasn't an idiot – of course she knew you can't just call a guy you barely know and then expect them to come and save you. Blazefire was smart. She had a plan.

She very carefully tied her arms to the bottom of the vault (the one she had just been hiding in) at the elbows, then just below her knees. She carefully attached some masking tape to one side of her mouth, making it look like she had strangled free of it. Then she used her lower arms to call Rhustin.

"I'm with the Teen Titans now, over on Earth in Jump City," she coughed into the communicator. Sure enough, the handsome face of Rhustin Sheerwood appeared in surprise.

"I'm on the roof of the Tower, in this weird vault. I think Flamey made it. Anyway, these bad guys or whatever tied me up, and I was wondering-"

He cut her off and nodded. "I'll get there as soon as I can," he promised. Sure enough, he arrived seconds later.

He ripped the top of the vault off and easily cut her ropes with a pocketknife. She couldn't help but notice how surprised he was to see her Tamaranian miniskirt without the super-high boots. She almost grinned – maybe the effect was working.

Once he pulled her up, she smoothed her shirt and skirt and looked up at him nervously. She hadn't had time to put in her color contacts, but she had attached her extensions properly, and blonde curls were falling loosely down to her elbows, shining in the moonlight.

"Thanks," she said softly, smiling up at him.

"Sure," he said. Obviously he had lost the seriousness he'd had in the letter he wrote her so long ago. She was glad – this was the Rhustin she knew.

"So," she said casually, though her voice was shaky. She knew she was feeling fireworks for Cyborg, but she hadn't expected them for Rhustin again. "How's life?"

He looked at her sadly. Finally he blurted out, "I was a jerk in that letter, Lana, and I'm so sorry. There is no Lady Alexandria. I just didn't want to commit myself…" He shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes. He turned back to her. "You're the one I've always wanted."

With that, he wrapped his arms around her waist as she draped hers around his shoulders, and they entered a romantic moonlight kiss.

**(Jealousy, people, and nothing more! This is still a Lana/Cy fic! Even though she's starting to kind of not deserve him at this point, but whatever, lol.)**

Just as they were kissing, Cyborg had turned around and decided to come back. What he saw didn't please him. Not at all.

**Me:**

I am seriously starting to like Red X now. I mean, a lot. So if you guys have any ideas on what I should do, review with suggestions, please. Because I'm totally making this RobStar, but X is actually pretty sweet. So should he land another girl, or just give up? What should happen??

Oh, okay, I forgot. I'm supposed to be apologizing for the whole cliffhanger thing, aren't I? Whoops, slipped my mind. Well. Um. Sorry, heehee. To avoid the angry mob, I think I'll do review responses right now.

**D-I-WaRrIa: **I know you didn't exactly review last chapter, but when you do read this, read your response I did last chapter, because I still need your help a tiny bit! Thanks!

**TeEn TitAn 14: **No worries, this is totally going to be Robin and Star!!! But I need some jealousy, you know? And I know you hate me for having X kiss Star on the cheek, but hey, it wasn't the lips, and it was D-I-WaRrIa's fault!!! Kill her, not me!!!

**Warprince2000**: Thanks!

**Savi:** Oh, yeah! For that long review, I'll give you a nice long answer. Um, I don't think I put a question, so it doesn't really matter… and if I told you whether you were right or wrong about Melanie and Aqualad, that could spoil the story for you!!! So maybe, how about that? And that clip was pure evil, because it made me want to see chapter four so bad!!! And HA, I updated, so it's your turn!!! I expect an update soon! And if you like the Lana/Cy, I apologize, but I promise they end up together. This chapter was only for my famous love: jealousy.

**Pookey: **Thanks! Well, Lana got to confessing first luckily, and you probably hate me for the Red X/Starfire and the Lana/Rhustin moments, but you know jealousy and me. It' s my baby! Yeah, Star totally doesn't like X, but still. That should give Robin a nice shake to be more of a romantic, or something like that. Or just make him jealous. I'll get to Slade and Raven eventually because of BB, but still, I know, it is funny.

**Solodancer789: **Um, thanks, but what do you mean? I was looking over the chapter and I didn't notice… but maybe I missed something, or whatever… anyway, thanks, and tell me what you mean on this review please!

Thanks everyone, and this was like six pages on my laptop, so be grateful! Oh, and if you knew anyone who passed away in that Tsunami, then I just want to say I'm really sorry, because I know someone who was in India the day before, but SO LUCKILY his dad had to leave early for business, so he left the night before the Tsunami struck. So I almost lost a friend (well, not a friend, but I knew him, and he was nice) to that, and I'm sure some people did. So, I hope you'll be able to move on and still be happy, because that's what I try to do when I lose someone.

Anyway, to cheer things up, I should be able to update pretty soon, and it should be a pretty mushy chapter. Thanks, guys!

Luv ya,

Kweenie


	10. Nothing's Right, I'm Torn

Here's the deal… I AM SO SORRY THAT I DID NOT UPDATE SOONER! THIS WAS A VERY LONG WAIT FOR MY USUAL WAITS, I KNOW!!!! I APOLOGIZE SO MUCH!!! THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL COME SOONER (with me as **Social-Glytta-Gyal, **heehee) THAN THIS DID, I PROMISE!!!

Yes, did you see that I mentioned that Rhustin is also flirting with Blazefire/Lana??? Does this make you excited??? Well, I guess in a bad way, but whatever. Want to know why? Because the guy wants to stay on Earth! And with his girl!!! Which means in the Tower!!!

That was the hyperactive me. Anyway, on with the dedication and disclaimer, and then the story, and then my homework!!! Oh, before I start, I just want to tell you that this is going to have the song '**Torn'** in it by **Natalie Imbruglia**. She's not, like, super-popular, but if you've heard of her, then great! She was also in _Johnny English._ Or is it Agent Johnny English? I don't remember, but she plays the girl he falls in love with.

Dedication: I forgot to put in a question again! I am so slow!!! Well, anyway. I already dedicated one to Pookey and one to Warprince2000 and another to solodancer789 just because (as in not for contests), so let me move on to another loyal reviewer…how about Savi? Yeah, this one's dedicated to Savi for being a loyal reviewer!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. Yay, I can type really fast now, because I had to memorize where every single key is as a quiz for school, and I aced it, so now I am officially a really good typist!!!

Chapter Ten: Nothing's Right, I'm Torn

After a few moments of what Blazefire thought of as heaven, her head snapped back to reality, and she tore her head away from Rhustin's. "I can't do this," she said with a shake of her head. She had wanted to, true. And she had been convinced by her own mind that this relationship would be for the best. But was he telling the truth – was Lady Alexandria really made up, and had he ever really feared commitment? "I just can't trust you yet," she explained sadly.

Cyborg, who had jumped behind a bush for fear of being seen, was glad that she had said that, but still furious. No wonder she had wanted to be just friends. He was just glad he hadn't poured his heart out to someone who was already in love… with another person.

Rhustin shook his head. "Please, I'm sorry. I was young, and I feared commitment more than anything else. But I've grown wiser, and when you called me… well, I knew that the time was right," he explained.

"I can't," she choked. What about Cyborg? How could she be so desperately in love with both people, who were so different from each other?

"You could before," he said softly. "Think of how we could be together… how wonderful we could be together," he said convincingly, his dark eyes pleading.

I thought I saw a man brought to life 

_He was warm, he came around like he was dignified._

_He showed me what it was to cry._

She couldn't trust him. Even if he really had feared commitment, love would stop him from backing out, wouldn't it? She sighed. Even though her heart was telling her not to do it, he was looking so honest, and so pleading. He was a handsome, strong, and brave person who deserved her, and she deserved him. If he was trustworthy.

Yes, if he was trustworthy, which he wasn't. She had thought of him so much in the dark of night, and how it could have been. But he had lost the perfect chance, and he made her wait around for what seemed like ages. Should she really give him the time of day, even?

She thought of all the times she cried, of how surprised she was that a person could hurt her so much. This man didn't deserve her, she decided. She probably didn't deserve anyone, either, but he definitely didn't.

"Rhustin, neither of us deserve anyone at this point," she said with a sigh. To everyone around her, she was brave and hard, not showing many emotions, but in different ways then Raven. She chose to cover them with her girly attitude, while Raven hid behind books and statues. Still, Blazefire wasn't brave at heart. She knew that.

"You don't deserve anyone, and I don't deserve anyone, which makes us the only ones left for each other," he said with a bit of a grin. "Don't you see? We were meant to be."

Glaring at Rhustin, Cyborg was dying to give him a nice hard sonic blast right through the head, but he refrained. _You don't deserve her, but does she deserve me? _He pondered. Even though he felt love for her, he also felt heartbroken and angry with her. He was pretty much completely torn. Hate her or love her?

"No," Blazefire said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry… I thought I was ready for this, but I'm not. Please, get out of here," she ordered, tossing a light blazebolt to form a circle around him. It brought him to his spacecraft, which he sadly left in.

"Lana," Cyborg said casually when she spotted him getting up. "Just, um, trimming the bushes." Luckily for him, Beastboy had left the shears out when he last cut them into llamas. He had the shears in his hands, obvious proof.

But not enough for her. _Stalker, _she thought. But hey, he was probably jealous. And heartbroken, unfortunately.

"You shouldn't do that," he said with a shake of his head. "You played that whole thing up, and then you ditched him." He had decided to lose the act.

"I was just trying to find someone who cared," she said, her voice drifting away in the wind. She leaned on the outside of the tower as she sighed. It was pretty dark out, and it was getting spooky. She hoped he wouldn't take her hint. She hadn't even meant to hint about anything, really.

"Isn't that what your _boyfriend _is for?" he demanded. "You know, the one in Florida?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Cyborg." She looked completely serious. "You know me. Okay, I don't even know if we're going out anymore. And I wanted true love."

"From the first guy you found? You told us that guy broke your heart!"

"That's why I refused him," she said angrily. "If you're going to spy, at least do it right," she added with distaste.

"I saw," he said with a shake of his head. "So you lured the guy, then ditched him."

"Can't you just BUTT OUT?" she demanded. She yelled a little louder than she meant to.

"It's not right, what you're doing," he said with a shake of his head. "Maybe you don't need love. Maybe you just need to cool it for now."

"I mean it," she said, tears brimming in her eyes. "If you know what's good for you, Cyborg, stay out of this. I want to be friends, but not if you spy on me and then give me advice that I really don't need right now."

"Yeah, you do," he said in a heartless manner. But he had good reason – he was pissed.

Well you couldn't be that man that I adored 

_You don't seem to know, seem to care what your heart is for_

_But I don't know him anymore._

"I think Rhustin-" he started, but she interrupted.

"Take a look," she said, pointing where the spacecraft had lifted off. "There's nothing there. He's gone. So shut up about it." She couldn't believe how rude she was being to Cyborg, but she couldn't help it. She was mad about Rhustin, and now Cyborg. Rhustin had seemed so perfect, and now… this. He was gone.

There's nothing where he used to lie My conversation has run dry 

_That's what's going on – nothing's fine, I'm torn._

And the Cyborg that she had loved… was he gone, too?

ROBINANDSTARFIREANDREDXROBINANDSTARFIREANDREDXROBINANDSTARFIREANDREDX

"Starfire," Red X and Robin both said when she entered the room.

"Hello, Starfire," Red X greeted soothingly. "Do you remember our little chat earlier? It seems that your little boyfriend decided to spy on you, even though that could mean your life. Of course, I wouldn't kill you, but Slade probably would."

"Robin has dropped the eaves on me?" Starfire asked in surprise.

"No," Robin said quickly. "I mean, I was looking for you, and so I came onto the roof. But I didn't hear anything."

Starfire narrowed her eyes a little. She hated how naïve people thought she was. She was a little oblivious, but she knew what Robin was saying was a lie. Still, he loved her. Of course he did.

"I'm sure there are some video tapings somewhere of Robin sneaking up on us," X said calmly. "Should I go look, Robin?"

Growing hot, Robin said, "You don't know where the cameras are. I don't even know the password anymore, now that Cyborg has the codes. And he's busy trying to get Blazefire to fall in love with him."

"Robin!" Starfire scolded in surprise. "You make that sound completely evil. I find their hidden romance quite intriguing and beautiful." She was very unhappily shocked that Robin didn't see around the same lines as her.

"Sure," he said in dismissal, and then he turned back to Red X. "Can't you just leave us alone?" he demanded. "I mean-"

Starfire shook her head. "You do not care about what I have to say," she commented bitterly to Robin.

"Yeah," Red X said with a grin. "Shouldn't you be more supportive as a boyfriend?"

Robin glared at X, too embarrassed with this to look at Starfire.

"Robin?" she asked softly. "Answer his question."

"Sure," Robin muttered, but he didn't peel his seething eyes away from Red X.

She shook her head, desperately wishing to spit at the ground for no apparent reason. Instead she turned to her two lovers with sadness in her eyes, then spun around and left.

_I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel._

_I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor._

_Illusion never changed into something real_

_I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn._

_You're a little late, I'm already torn._

Could Red X possibly be right? Maybe Robin really didn't love her. Maybe she was better off alone… without love. Love was an illusion, as Blazefire was learning, as well. A perfect life… that was an illusion, too. At least, it was for the two Tamaranian royal sisters.

BACKTOBLAZEFIREFIGHTINGWITHCYBORGBACKTOBLAZEFIREFIGHTINGWITHCYBORG

"Rhustin isn't gone, Lana," Cyborg said with a shake of his head. "Like it or not, that guy has it bad for you. He gave up this time, but it won't stay that way."

"Why would he want to come back? I broke his heart, and now he can't turn back. He left, he understood, and it's all for good."

Cyborg shook his head. "I can see through that, though," he explained. "You're talking about yourself. He broke your heart, and now you can't turn back. You told him no, you and he both understood, and you think it's all for good."

"What are you saying?"

"Rhustin is coming back, and you think he's not. Don't you at least want to prepare for that? I mean, write a letter, or something?"

"Letters are the easy way out, and this is important."

"It worked for him."

"That's not fair. He was afraid of commitment, and of telling me that."

"And you fear something, too. You're afraid something bad will happen again. That another heart will be broken."

"You think you're being wise," she accused. "You think you're so smart, and that you know what I'm thinking, and you have all the answers." She glared at him. "Well, newsflash, robot boy, you don't. No one but me and Rhustin can sort this out, so get out of it!"

"I'm just trying to help you because it's my _job_! I'm the Titans Leader, and I-"

"Bull," she shouted angrily. "First Robin was like that, and now you are. Frankly, I don't think we need some stupid leader, okay? You're not the best fighter here, and I'm not, either. There is no best fighter. So quit with the Leader act and get out of this."

This was where he knew she was right. There didn't have to be a leader, and they at least shouldn't be like this. But he was still furious. "You and Rhustin couldn't sort this out if your lives depended on it!" he bellowed. "You're some dumb blonde who tied herself up to a vault just to get some guy she was going to ditch five minutes later into coming! And he's the pathetic loser who fell for that! What could _you two _accomplish on your own?"

The look in her eyes gleamed so many emotions in a short period of time. First was anger, then fear, then hurt, loss, sadness, and finally a look of independence. "I don't need to be here," she said softly. "I don't need to be anywhere with anyone. I'm just a dumb blonde who doesn't work well with others and deserves a terrible life, right?" she asked dejectedly. She didn't wait for an answer. "I can deal with my life on my own." Then she flew, faster than anything he had ever seen, into the stars.

She couldn't even get to Tamaran. Instead she landed on a star and cried her heart out. Cyborg punched the ground as hard as he could and glanced back at the shining, dark sky, wishing she could have stayed… at least for another apology.

But he couldn't apologize to her, and she couldn't apologize to him. There had been so much hurt and so much anger that both of them would probably die from any more pressure.

_So I guess the fortune teller's right._

_I should have seen just what was there, and not some holy light_

_To crawl beneath my veins and now_

_I don't care, I have no luck, I don't miss it all that much._

_There's just so many things that I can't touch, I'm torn._

BEASTBOYRAVENANDOFCOURSESLADEBEASTBOYRAVENANDOFCOURSESLADE

"Raven?" Beastboy asked, knocking on her door.

She didn't have to ask who it was, because his scratchy voice was evidence enough. "Come in," she said in her monotone voice.

"Hey," he said cheerfully as he walked into her room. He always tried to be cheerful in her room, because it was too gloomy otherwise.

"Hi," she said with a smile, letting him kiss her on the cheek.

"So," he said, bouncing down onto one of her spooky chairs. "I was getting really sick of fighting the…" He frowned. "Well, I don't really know what they're called, but you know, the four guys who we hate. So, my point is, why don't you go into Slade's mind, figure out where he is, and then go find him like you did for Star?"

"Well, I know it was easy to find her, but that was because it was Batman's old hideout. We probably won't know this place."

"But we might," Beastboy explained. "I mean, it's worth a try, right?"

Raven nodded, closed her eyes, and sped up to Slade's eyes.

_What are you doing here, Raven?_

**Slade? How did you know I was here?**

_You're quite obvious, you know._

**But I was shielding myself. How did you know?**

_I guess I use more of my mind than the three percent of it your little boyfriend does._

**You shouldn't be making fun. Almost every human uses three percent of their brain.**

_You don't, I don't, Cyborg doesn't, and Starfire doesn't. Robin and Beastboy are weak._

**No, they're just more normal.**

_You shouldn't be normal to be in the Titans, should you?_

**That's not for me to say. Our team formed this way, just like yours formed your way.**

_You didn't answer my question._

**How can you block my mind, anyway?**

_Whenever you speak to me, your mind is complex. I guess I arouse… ideas from you?_

**Excuse me?**

_Nothing. So, why do you like the little green boy, anyway?_

**I choose who I love, and it's not any of your business.**

_I think it is._

**Well, I don't.**

_Raven, I am at a water home last occupied by the late Andrea Worths. Meet me here alone._

**Why should I?**

_You'll learn where we are. And if you don't like us, you can always kill us._

**True. Fine, when do I come?**

_That was quick. May I ask why you're so eager to see me?_

**When do I come?**

_Whenever you desire._

**Fine. I'll see you… later.**

"Raven, why were you talking to Slade? And why are you going to meet him somewhere without us? I mean, why not bring us?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that conversation you just had with Slade. And do I really use only three percent of my brain? And Robin does, too?"

"He might use four."

"Fine. Whatever. So can I come?"

"How did you know about this? My conversations take place in my own head."

"Uh, Rae? You were talking for the world to hear."

She blushed. "I was?"

"Are your powers okay?"

"Yeah. Look, I've got to go."

"Cool. Let me get my hair brushed first, though. You never know what Slade might do if he sees me with messed up hair."

"Beastboy." She rolled her eyes at him. "One, your hair is green, therefore he can still mock you. And two, you're not coming."

"You can't go there alone! That guy, like, loves you! I heard his voice, too, and he was totally flirting with you! In a creepy bad-guy sort of way," he added with distaste, shivering about Slade and about the creepy room he was in.

"You're not coming. He'll kill you."

"No he won't! Why can't I come? It's because you like him, isn't it?"

"Beastboy, of course not!"

"Yes, it is! You like him because he's all smart and cunning and everything, and I'm just some dumb green shape-changer not worth your time! That's it, isn't it?"

"No, it isn't! I just-"

"Raven, don't even try to deny it. You go ahead, dump me and go out with him. It's not my problem that you'll be going out with someone EVIL, though, IS IT?" he shouted. Then he glared at her and ran out of the door with a slam.

_I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel.  
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor.  
Illusion never changed into something real.  
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn.  
You're a little late, I'm already torn. _

_There's nothing where he used to lie.  
My inspiration has run dry.  
That's what's going on, nothings right, I'm torn._

I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel.  
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor.  
Illusion never changed into something real.  
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn.  
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel.  
I'm cold and I'm ashamed bound and broken on the floor.  
You're a little late, I'm already torn.

**Me:**

No worries here, people. I promise there will be our favorite pairings by the end. This one's probably going to have more chapters than Captive did anyhoo, so we still have more than half a story to mend things. And I promise things are going to go uphill from here. Well, mostly. There's still going to be some jealousy, but the apologies will come in pretty soon. **_READ THIS STUFF, YOU GUYS!!! SOME OF THE STUFF I HAVE TO SAY IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT, OKAY????_**

Anyway, you probably haven't heard that song, but if you have, then cool! I know I put the last like whole section in at the end, and I should have spaced it out better… but sorry, I still wrote a long chapter, so be grateful! It's more than six and a half pages long on my laptop! Here are the responses:

**Solodancer789: **You are so like me. I'm too lazy to see what I write in stuff like that, too. I'd just be like, "whoops," and then get on with the review, just like you!!! Thanks, and I think you would have stopped reading this a long time ago if you didn't like the jealousy thing! And this wasn't exactly a mushy chapter, if that was what you were looking for in this one too, but whatever, they're coming up!

**Pookey: **I agree with you, Red X is awesome if Robin still gets Star. Which he does, I promise. Here was some BB/Rae/Slade for you. It wasn't exactly funny, but I couldn't see myself making it funny and good at the same time. Still, the idea was funny, so that's good enough for me. Hopefully for you, too. I know she doesn't, but he's being pretty mean to her too now, so they'll get on with it and still fall in love later. But she'll make the bigger apology.

**D-I-WaRrIa: **You're welcome! -hides- Sorry about telling someone to kill you… -comes out of hiding- Yeah, thanks for welcoming me for thanking you for the pen name, LOL. _Hides again. _When did I say you liked fluff? Um, I don't remember saying it, but I'm glad you think mine is well-written, that makes me feel good. _Comes out of hiding again. _I'm glad Babs is going to die, because she deserves it! That was a beautiful signature (LOL) and update your story (or stories – any of them would be nice) as soon as you can!

**Warprince2000: **I feel kind of guilty that I can't give you a longer review, but you don't really review a lot of words for me to respond to. But thanks for reviewing – that's what makes me happy most of all – and, well, I guess that's all!

**Savi:** Here's what happens! Did you like it? And I updated! Glasses aren't that bad. I got them and I was way pissed, but then I got used to them, and now I wear contacts most of the time. But don't worry; eventually you think they're not even there. And I'm glad I'm not dead… okay… That's okay, sorry I took so long to update. I saw Bunny Raven, and it was so good! Wasn't it? (I'm assuming you saw it.) I loved your update, and I'm not updating again until your fifth chapter is up! HA! Let's just keep doing this, I guess. Thanks!

**Meangenius: **I'll respond to all three of your reviews here. So… well, for chapter seven, I guess I am sort of leaving him out, but he has a pretty major part later, I promise. And that wasn't a very long review… but whatever. As for chapter eight, well. Philip takes Blazefire out the door, but then she knocked some blazebolts into him, and she got free and walked up to Cy and Mel. That was for your second question. For your first, there were other Titans, and they weren't even fighting anyway, so they were probably just hanging out waiting for someone to fight them. For chapter nine, that's a really good idea. Even though I'm sick captive stuff, I might use it. I just reminded you in the hallway, so that's over with. Rhustin sucks, I know, but jealousy, my friend!!!! Thanks!

Just so you all know, I'm changing my penname thing, but it's still me!!!! And you'll be able to tell it's me, because it'll still have 'social' in it. But that's just so you'll know that Near Perfection is the same story, just a different author's name. **_READ THIS STUFF PEOPLE!!!!_**

Luv ya,

Kweenie (WHO JUST TYPED SEVEN AND A HALF PAGES ON HER LAPTOP! NEW RECORD!)


	11. Captive Fires

Oh, yeah! I'm watching Date with Destiny (it's recorded – I have TiVo), and Starfire is using "Tamaranian Acupressure" on Robin! So cute! "I welcome you," she says all lovingly. Only problem is, I can expect Killer Moth's evil threat any moment now. Still, this is one of my favorite episodes of all time, because you all know me and jealousy.

WHAT??? NO!!!! TiVo cut off my recording! Ugh that sucks really bad!! Oh well, though, I guess. I'm just going to watch "Every Dog Has His Day" instead. I usually don't watch Teen Titans while I write, but I'll see what happens. It's actually really weird to watch the characters in the show act pretty normal while they have broken hearts or whatever in my fic. I can't really imagine BB with a broken heart because of Raven in Every Dog Has His Day.

It's kind of hard to write when you're watching a TV show, but I'll do my best. Anyway, you don't want to hear me drone on and I'm sure you want to get on with reading the fic, so I'll get on with the dedication and the disclaimer and stuff. But first, I know I said that I'd change my penname, but people told me not to, and that they liked it the way it is, plus then I wouldn't be able to sign my stuff by "Kweenie" anymore, and that would be a nightmare! By the way, sorry it took so long to update, but the website or my computer… whichever… was being evil.

Dedication: To… hmm, forgot to put in the question again… I'd have to say this is for… well, this chapter is for three people, **Savi, Pookey, **and **solodancer789**, because their reviews were all really funny, especially **solodancer789**'s. If you reviewed me and I didn't dedicate it to you, I still love you! But those three review like every chapter and they're really funny every time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, okay? If I did, then the credits on the show I'm watching would have my name in it, and not Tara Strong and everyone else, because me and my friends would make up the cast, no offense to Tara and everyone else. They're really cool, you know? But me and my friends are SO MUCH COOLER!!! Um, just kidding, yeah. But I would so be Starfire, and my sister would have to be Raven (yes, you, Meangenius).

Chapter Eleven: Captive Fires

"Sister Blazefire?" Starfire asked timidly, knocking on her sister's door.

"What?" Blazefire asked in a bored, monotone voice very similar to that of Blazefire. "I'm kind of busy right now."

**(Oh, yeah! Starfire and Raven just kicked Soto's butt by blending their powers and stuff! It was so cool! And now here's Aftershock… stupid Terra…)**

"Please, sister, I require your assistance. I believe I have made a… erm, a very bad mistake concerning Robin and Red X and I wish to have some help about it."

"If you put that in regular English, I'll consider it."

Starfire sighed. "Of course. I got mad at Robin because… well, I'm pretty mad at Robin, and now he might think I like Red X in… um, in _that _way, and I need…"

Immediately her door opened and she looked at her sister with interest. Her silver eyes looked slightly red and bulgy, and her face was a little shiny and tear-stained, but she put on a rough smile for her sister, and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dark, black jacket. "Help?" she interrupted. "Sure, come in."

"Sister," Starfire said, her green eyes wide with surprise, "you look positively miserable! What on Earth could have happened to make you feel so… so sad?"

Blazefire shrugged simply. "Nothing important," she lied, even though she truly felt that it was extremely important. "Let's talk about you."

"Well," Starfire said uneasily, "Robin did not seem to care for what I had to say, and I caught him spying on me, and so I got angry with him, and I ran off. But now I am afraid that Robin thinks I am in love with Red X, which I am not. Yet I do not wish to speak with either of them, for they are… as you say… getting on my nerves."

Blazefire smiled at her naïve sister. "Robin deserves the cold shoulder for spying on you," she explained. "And Red X deserves even worse for flirting with a taken girl."

"Please, this 'cold shoulder' is some form of ice on a shoulder, perhaps?"

Laughing a little, Blazefire shook her head. "No, Flamey. It's more like…" She frowned, thinking of how to explain it.

**(Ooh, my favorite lines of the whole entire TV show! The ever-famous, "Terra. Raven. Traitor. Witch." I love it! But I hate Terra, even though she ends up saving them. She's still hated by me.)**

Finally, she said, "It's like you're ignoring him, but you have to act sort of… snotty, I guess… when you do ignore him. It's like you're letting him know he did something wrong."

"What is this 'snotty' that you speak of? Is it perhaps-"

"No, it isn't some form of mucous. It's actually where someone is rude and impolite to someone without being entirely outward about the whole thing. I mean, if you're just mean to the person, that's not being snotty, but if you're surreptitiously mean to them, then you're being snotty." **(I love that word, surreptitious! We learned it in LA last week!)**

"I believe I understand, but I do not wish for Robin to think that I completely hate him for it," she explained. "He has done wrong things before this-" as in Haunted "-but I have forgiven him. He is still Robin, no matter what he has done, and so I shall always love him."

"That is so sweet," Blazefire said truthfully. She wondered if she should feel the same way. "But still, the only way he'll treat you better is if you show him that you don't like being treated unfairly. Make him feel like Red X would make a better boyfriend than him without actually flirting with Red X." She shook her head. "Don't – I repeat, DON'T – try to make him jealous by flirting with the guy. It'll make you think you're in love with X, even though you're really in love with…"

Starfire waited for a few seconds for her sister to continue, then whispered, "Cyborg. That is who you wished to finish your sentence with, Sister. I understand now that you cannot help solve my problems without first solving your own. Perhaps I could give you a suggestion?"

Blazefire nodded. "Sure."

"Let us travel to break our fasting, where we shall enjoy a wonderful male-free meal. We may invite Raven and Melanie and perhaps have a female-Titans party, and we may discuss all of our male troubles in our morning meal."

"In other words, we'll go into the kitchen for breakfast without the guys, but we can take Rae and Mel if they want to come, and have a cool party and talk about why guys suck and what we should do to stop them from breaking our hearts."

"Glorious," Starfire said, her emerald eyes shining. "Let us first ask Melanie, for she is next door to you!"

They walked over to Melanie's room and knocked on her door. Like Blazefire, Melanie had decorated her door with pictures of her friends and ex-boyfriends. Melanie opened her girly door seconds after they knocked.

"Friend Melanie, did I hear a voice other than yours in there?" Starfire asked.

"Um, TV," Melanie lied. "I was watching Smallville."

**(No, I don't own Smallville, but I am watching it right now, and I adore Tom Welling, even though he STILL hasn't figured out that the dumb cheerleaders are poisoning his water! NO WONDER he's keeling over in pain!)**

"Isn't Tom Welling to die for?" Blazefire asked dreamily.

"Please, who is this person in which you speak of?"

"Dude from another planet," Melanie explained. "He's got way cool superpowers. He is so hot!" she added.

"Then perhaps I could meet him?" Starfire asked. "I am from another planet as well, and I have interesting superpowers, yes?"

"He's on TV," Blazefire explained. "Robin's explained television to you, hasn't he?"

"Yes," Starfire replied, blushing slightly. "Now, friend Melanie, might you wish to join us in an all-female party of breaking the fast?"

"Sure, sounds cool. Is Raven coming?"

"We have yet to ask her," Starfire replied.

As they walked to Raven's room, Blazefire said with a grin, "Raven hasn't been as, you know, evil lately as you would have expected. I mean, of course when I first got here she kind of hated me, but now she's being kind of… nice to Melanie and me, you know?"

Melanie nodded. "Yeah. I guess she finally realized that Terra was a one-time bad guy – er, or girl – and we're not like her. I mean, she wasn't ever that bad with you, was she, Star?" Melanie asked.

"When I first arrived here, neither Raven nor Cyborg trusted me much. Beastboy had yet to join the team **(I don't know the order, so that's my version)**. Raven and Cyborg did not wish for me to join the team, but Robin trusted me, and so I was allowed to join. Once Raven realized that my way of speaking is not an act, she began to trust me, and after we switched places, we often meditate together."

"Raven isn't as bad as her first impression was for me," Blazefire added with a nod.

"Yeah, she's pretty cool," Melanie agreed. "When Blazefire wasn't here and Raven still didn't trust me, I wasn't looking forward to the Titans much. I mean, Starfire, you were kind of hard to talk to until I got to know you. But now Blazefire's awesome to talk to, Starfire… you're certainly entertaining to talk to, and Raven's… well, not as bad as she used to be."

Just as they were praising Raven, her door opened, and out came a seething, furious, meditating-her-heart-out Raven. Starfire and Blazefire quickly flew to the ceiling to hide, and Melanie ducked under a shadowy table. Luckily, Raven was in too much of a struggle to look out for the spying female Titans.

Well, and Starfire.

"That was 'close,' or so I believe the Earthling expression says," Starfire commented when Raven was a safe distance away.

"Not really. She was way too distracted to notice us," Melanie said.

"Yeah, but I'm dying to see where she's going. Let's follow her," Blazefire suggested.

"I do not enjoy this trickery very much!"

"You know you want to, Flamey," Blazefire said with a grin. "Besides, it'll be a good chance to forget about guys for once."

"You're assuming this doesn't have to do with guys," Melanie said, referring to Raven's distractedness.

"True," Blazefire said, and then lead the way to follow the Goth's steps. Starfire grabbed Melanie's hands and they went through the hallway and out the window to follow Raven. Melanie gulped slightly, as it was very bright out, which gave Starfire reason to sing and float around merrily… while Melanie looked warily down at the threatening waters.

"Starfire, could you PLEASE try to concentrate?" Melanie demanded.

"Do not worry, friend Melanie; I shall not drop you! But do you not enjoy the shining sun and the beautiful waves?"

"She's heading south," Blazefire commented, turning to look at her comrades. "I don't think she's just going to one of those Goth poetry restaurants this time."

"We may wish to call backup," Starfire suggested.

"Who's there to call?" Blazefire questioned. "Starfire's mad at Robin, I'm guessing Blazefire's mad at Cyborg, and I'm assuming Raven's mad at BB."

Melanie's sparked with excitement. "I know who we can call, but you two have to promise me that you won't be mad I didn't tell you this sooner."

"Just tell us, girl!" Blazefire demanded. "Is it about a guy?" Seeing her friend's secretive face, she said immediately, "It _is _about a guy! Who is it?"

Melanie sighed. "It might just be… I don't know, your ex-betrothed, or something."

"What do you mean? You wish to contact Aqualad?"

Blazefire grinned fiercely. "Flamey, I think she means she's _dating _Fish-man," she teased. Then, seeing Melanie's surprised face, she added, "That was a joke. Aqualad's way hot, don't worry. I just didn't want to… um, marry him… because of Rhustin and Cyborg."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, yeah, it's Aqualad. That's why I had to lie about watching Smallville earlier, and why I've lied about talking to him before, but now that's over. Anyway, we can call Aqualad and ask him to be here, and I'll tell him you guys know about us," Melanie said. "But only if you fill us in on Rhustin and Cyborg."

Starfire's eyes lit up. "Ooh, sister, has this man, Rhustin, come to the Tower? Are you perhaps in love with him again? That would be grand, for you to love again, even if it is not with Cyborg."

"Rhustin came to the Tower, but…"

"So you two are perhaps 'going out' now?"

"No," Blazefire said quickly.

"Then is he your friend, your boyfriend, or your enemy?" Melanie demanded.

"I…" Blazefire looked bewildered. "I don't know."

"Sorry, but usually you… well, _know_ about that kind of thing," Melanie said with raised eyebrows. **(That was straight out of Gilmore Girls, but I felt like adding it in, lol.)**

"Well, shall we expect him to return?"

"Probably not. I didn't think he'd come back after our talk, but Cyborg thinks he will."

Melanie winced. "Cyborg was there when Rhustin was? That can't be good."

"If you are not boyfriended, befriended, or enemy… um, enemiended with Rhustin, then perhaps you are one of these with friend Cyborg?" Starfire asked.

Blazefire paused, then replied, "I think I'm what you call 'enemiended' with him at this point, but it's sort of like what's going on with you and Robin… I like him and I think he might like me, but we're too mad at each other to notice." She turned to Melanie. "That's about it, honestly. Rhustin told me he still loved me and he feared commitment, but I turned him down. Then I got mad at Cyborg and he got mad at me, and the rest just fell into place."

Melanie nodded. "Well, your half is up. Let me call Aqualad." She pressed a button on her communicator, and then blushed. "I pressed the wrong speed dial button!" she said with a shake of her head. "It's hard to use this thing with one hand!" (The other hand was holding onto Starfire, as they were taking a long time to cross the bay so Raven wouldn't see them.) She glared at her communicator. "Damn these stupid computers! How do I stop it from dialing? It's calling Robin!"

Starfire leaned down to help, but it was too late. The communicator blinked on.

"Melanie?" Robin asked in surprise. Starfire leaned down to look at it while still holding onto Melanie's hand. He saw an upside-down redhead in his communicator. "Starfire? I didn't know you two were gone. What's going on?"

"Sorry," Melanie said, blushing. "I meant to call… someone else."

"Who? I can talk to them for you."

"No, they're not a Titan. I should go."

"Where are you?"

"Please, Robin, we must leave now!" Starfire said, trying to sound as cheerful as she usually did while still giving him the 'cold shoulder.'

Robin winced at hearing the "friend" part of "friend Robin" being purposefully left out, but he decided not to comment on it. She was obviously still angry with him, and for good reason. He had spied on her. "Just tell me where you are," Robin instructed. Just as he commanded this in a very loud voice, Cyborg strutted over.

"Hey, I didn't know you left," Cyborg said in surprise. "What gives?"

**(I have no idea what the expression "what gives?" even means, but I think it means what's going on, or something. It's a guy thing, I guess. If you're a guy and reviewing this chapter, please explain to me what "what gives?" even means.)**

"NOTHING," Melanie said loudly, causing Blazefire to turn around in curiosity. Soon, three beautiful supermodel-type faces were staring into Robin and Cyborgs' eyes. The faces were matched with long, flowing hair – some red, some blonde, and some strawberry blonde. This was matched with a pair of emerald eyes, a pair of silver eyes, and a pair of sapphire eyes. The girls were all beautiful, which made the guys like them even more.

Cyborg frowned at Blazefire, but resisted insulting her. Blazefire did the same.

"Look," she said calmly, "this is none of your business, and it has nothing to do with any of our enemies, so would you lay off? It's private girl stuff."

"Is Raven with you?"

"Sort of," Melanie replied, regaining her head. "PLEASE let us get off now. We need to call someone… else."

"Wait," they both said at the same time. "Will you give us a hint?" Cyborg begged.

"I'm hanging up," Melanie said with a shake of her head.

"We're calling back," Robin said with a meddling, determined face that made Starfire's heart flutter like crazy. "Very soon."

"Can't wait," Blazefire said sarcastically as she closed Melanie's communicator. She flew back to the front of the two, keeping her silver eyes on Raven, as the others called Aqualad for help.

Aqualad promised to get there as soon as he could, and just as Melanie was about to scream her head off ignoring the constant rings from Cyborg and Robin, Stonefire and Slade came, both with sinister grins on their faces.

"SLADE!" Raven screeched. She could sense him in her head, and she immediately turned around, facing her three eavesdroppers and her new lover-boy and his friend.

"You rang?" Slade said with a grin. "I was hoping we'd be able to wrap this up without you seeing us, but nevertheless our plan worked flawlessly. As expected, the two gossip Titans – and Starfire – followed you the whole way. Now we'll pull a Philip's act on these three."

"What's he talking about?" Aqualad asked as he reached them in a small jet.

"A Philip's act," Starfire said in a hollow voice. "They wish to capture us."

Aqualad laughed. "You seriously think you'll get away with it?"

"Please," Stonefire said with a snort. "We know the love life of you all. It's in shreds. The only one who came is you, and what can you possibly do, Fish Boy?"

Aqualad turned to the sisters. "You two fight for yourselves until I get back. I have to take Melanie back first – she doesn't have powers."

The sisters nodded, and he leaned out of his jet, grabbed Melanie, and swerved over to the Tower before anyone could do anything about it.

"Tell me," Blazefire said while sending several throat-busters down her enemies' throats. "Where are my sister's two lover boys?"

"Red X gave up the bad guy in him because of his love for this girl," Slade said with a shake of his head. "As for Philip, he's not her lover boy, and he says he wants to relive the day his father captured Starfire, just for torture. That means he's in Tamaran, waiting to pretend he's the good old enemy's college buddy." He rolled his eyes. "I think it's a waste, but we can do fine without him."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "Was this why you told me where you were staying?" she demanded. "So they would come, and you could take them hostage?"

"No, I still wanted to speak with you," Slade responded easily. "But I guess that will happen at a later time."

"Why don't you want to take me hostage?"

"Well, I was going to suggest taking all the female Titans to get the males pissed off, but everyone said you would be too annoying and grouchy to stay with us, so naturally…" He shrugged. "Why would I _want _you in my home?"

Raven smirked at Blazefire and Starfire, who were both trying and failing to murder their father. "See? Being a grouchy Goth does come in handy sometimes."

"I still want to talk," Slade added with a grin. "You're interesting, unlike the others."

"That's enough for today," Raven said. "_Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos!_"

Dodging her psychic rays, Slade asked, "What do those words mean, Raven?"

"Azerath means 'get,' Metrion means 'a,' and Zynthos means 'LIFE!'" she said angrily, thrashing the roof of a building at him. "And it's none of your business." She turned hopelessly to Blazefire and Starfire. "I need to go. I'm so sorry, but I have to meditate. My powers aren't working right now."

They had no choice but to nod understandingly, even though they really needed her help.

Aqualad came back minutes later, and set his jet to autopilot while he climbed onto his roof, ready to fight. "Water's more my thing," he explained to Blazefire and Starfire, "but I think I know what I'm doing in the sky."

Just as he was saying this, Stonefire made a huge lunge at Starfire, and she was knocked out, even if only for a second. But her father took that second to grab her wrist and try to pull her into his spacecraft, which he was obviously heading back to Tamaran in.

Just as Blazefire turned to help her sister, Aqualad shook his head. "I don't care about your love lives now," he said with a shake of his head. "We need to contact the rest of the Titans. It's our only way out."

Blazefire furiously shook her head, but Starfire blasted her father and escaped, then nodded solemnly. "I suppose we must contact them, even if doing so will anger us. It may also save us."

Starfire speed-dialed Robin that time. **(If they can afford the big-screen TV and the Tower, I think they'd be able to afford a communicator with speed-dial, okay?) **As soon as he picked up, Starfire said, "Robin, we need your assistance!"

"Um… with what?" he asked in surprise.

Blazefire snatched the communicator from Starfire. "It's nothing," she said quickly, just as Cyborg walked over to Robin and his communicator. "We're fine. Starfire's just being, you know, Starfire."

Unfortunately, just as Blazefire was saying this, Slade took Blazefire into a very threatening headlock. She shrieked and punched backwards at him, but because he was mostly metal, this only did damage to herself.

"We'll be there in one second," Robin said, his teeth gritted at seeing Slade. Cyborg's teeth were gritted, too, but for a different reason. As mad as he was at Lana, he still felt angry inside when he saw her in that headlock. He sighed. She was being such a jerk to him, but he still felt like he loved her.

Robin and Cyborg got there too late.

Starfire was already in the spacecraft when they arrived, and Blazefire was fighting as hard as she could to kill Slade and her father and also get her sister out of there.

There wasn't much any of them could do. The only ones who could fly were Blazefire and Stonefire. This wasn't a problem for the bad guys, because Stonefire just created stones for Slade to step on. Blazefire wasn't doing such a good job of that, though, because her stepping stones were very electric and hard to walk on.

Blazefire was taken into the spacecraft easily once Robin and Cyborg gave up on the blazesteps. She didn't even bother struggling by the time her father got a rope around her wrist. She was yanked into the spacecraft with no trouble. However, she was able to send some blazebolts that formed some very interesting words that made Robin shudder at the thought. In the air, her blazes read:

_Robin and Cyborg –_

_Don't get BB or Rae; they need some alone time, I think. But there is someone who can help you. Robin, hear me out. You need the help of this person, no matter how much you don't want it. He gave up being evil for Starfire. He'll want to help. You need to find Red X._

**Me:**

BUM BUM BUM!

Oh yeah, now it's ON! Will Robin let Red X help find Starfire, or will he turn him down? Will Red X seriously go on the good guys' side for Starfire? Who will Starfire choose – Robin or Red X? (Well, we all know I wouldn't be THAT evil, so Robin, but maybe not right away.) Will Red X give up the fight for Star and let Robin and Starfire be? Not likely. But if he does help, won't he deserve not to die? I have it all planned out now!

So, if you have any more suggestions for this fic, you'll have to think about them first. I have the outline for this fic completely down, so please don't suggest anything that will change the entire story. But if you have some small suggestions, like… I don't know, like "Robin should kill Slade by chopping off his head" then those are okay, and I like them. But if you don't have small suggestions, then don't give me any, please! Well, unless they're really good and worth my changing them.

Anyway, I guess I have to stop blabbering on eventually, even though it's way fun. But how did you like this chapter? I know another captive sounds boring, but it is NOTHING like the other one, I promise. First of all, they'll be in Tamaran, where Starfire and Blazefire have friends and Stonefire doesn't. Secondly, Red X is helping the search. Ahem, I mean, probably. Thirdly, they already know Philip is a fake, and lastly, Slade is involved. Oh, and RC is over. And Blazefire and Melanie are Titans. See? A lot has changed! And I promise it's going to be good! Oh, and how'd you like Melanie and Aqualad? Everyone has to have someone, you know. Maybe not in real life, but in my fic they do. It's just better to me! I mean, single is fine, but think about it. Lana and Cy… well, poor Cy needed someone, and Lana has to have a boyfriend, because what kind of prep doesn't have a boyfriend? Not that I respect this or anything, but I think all preps I know have boyfriends. And she won't be as much of a prep when she gets with Cy. As for Robin and Star… well, I'm not even going to TRY to explain that one. It's just too OBVIOUS! Raven and BB are obvious too, and Aqualad and Melanie are both sort of left behind and there, and so I thought they'd be cute together. The bad guys don't deserve anyone, but I promise Red X will get a girl. Phew, that paragraph thing was long on my computer.

Ooh, speaking of Red X, I have the perfect idea for next chapter's dedication! I repeat: **_I have a good idea for NEXT CHAPTER'S DEDICATION!!!_** Here's the thing. I know who Red X is going to end up with, and it obviously isn't Star. If you can guess who the girl is, you win! HINT: She's not very major, but if you watch Teen Titans, then you'll know her.

RESPONSES:

**Shemka oka4: **Yay, I saw your review for Captive, but I couldn't respond to it. But I'm glad you reviewed this story!!! Anyway, thanks!

**Warprince2000: **sighs When will you ever learn? But thanks a lot anyway!

**Pookey: **That was funny! I love confetti too! I liked Raven/Slade/BB too, and Rob/Star/X is going to get intense, you know. Heehee, thanks!

**Solodancer789: **That HAD to be the funniest review I have ever read. It was so funny! Anyway, I should steal a Grammy too, but not just grab it. I'll be very careful… grabs Grabby then ducks behind my sister Don't blame the innocent! She did it! See, it's easier when you pin it on someone else! Thanks!

**Savi: **I'm too lazy to respond, but thanks so much! Yeah, I have e-mail and I don't show it to everyone on my bio because I don't want loads of e-mails or anything, but you can AIM me if you have it, because I hate using e-mail when I can just use AIM. Anyway, if you have it, then my screen name is FicitonFairy211. IM me whenever you want!

Oh, yeah! SEVEN AND A HALF PAGES OF VERDANA 9 POINT FONT ONCE AGAIN!

Luv ya,

Kweenie


	12. Girls VS Boys

Just so you know, this is going to be longer than Captive was, but not that long. It'll probably be about twenty-five chapters or so. I need at least five to ten chapters for the captive part, and then five or so after the capture. You know, one for the death of Slade, one for the death of Philip, one for the death of Stonefire, one for Robin and Starfire, one for Beastboy and Raven, and one for Cyborg and Lana. And one at the end as an epilogue. So it'll be about twenty-five chapters, I'm guessing.

I don't know if that's a lot or a little to some of you. To me it's about average, because a lot of fics are only like nine to fifteen chapters (or one-shots are just one), but I've also read a lot that were about thirty or forty chapters… so I guess this is about average… but still, it doesn't really matter much in the end, because I'm still going to have about twenty-five chapters no matter what it means… oh, whatever, let's get on with it. Oh, by the way, this is a bunch of Star-Rob fighting, but **_this is still going to be a complete and utter Starfire-Robin fic, all the way! I would never break them up, never ever!_**

Dedication: To **warprince2000**, because you actually said something else! Not to be rude here, but you usually type the same old boring thing, but this time you typed something a little different, which is so cool! Your response is at the end. Oh, yeah, and to** Savi**, because she got the dedication thingy right!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. I know I usually write a bunch of stuff about the fact that I don't own Teen Titans, but I'm out of ideas for now, so I'll leave it at that.

Chapter Twelve: Girls VS Boys

**Tamaran:**

Blazefire and Starfire didn't regain their consciousness until their father's spacecraft landed on Tamaran. Starfire was closing her eyes in fright, but Blazefire was almost laughing at how nervous Slade was at being on a different planet.

"Flamey, look," she whispered with a grin. "Slade almost looks scared."

"No whispering, girls!" Stonefire ordered in a strict voice. "If you two had just come home like I asked you to, you would be able to stay in the palace and have a marvelous time. But since you disrespected me by fighting me, it was agreed that we should take you to the dungeons of our palace instead of the wonderful top floors."

Starfire shuddered. "Please, Father, I did not wish to hurt you, but Earth is my home now. I only wished to stay there with my friends. Can you not understand?"

"Earth is not your home, and it never will be. You were never born there, and you will never fit in there. You have family here."

"What family?" Blazefire asked with a snort. "I could hardly call you family, considering you tried to kill us, and now you're locking us in a dungeon. Mother didn't even care. Or if she did, she didn't even try to stop you. Blackfire obviously isn't family – she tried to take over this planet, and to set the police after her sister."

Before Stonefire had a chance to respond, Starfire asked with interest, "Where might sister Blackfire be?"

"That disrespectful girl is also in the dungeons," Stonefire replied. "Things got out of hand while I was gone, and I needed a chance to explain that to her."

"Is this how you want to live your life?" Blazefire demanded as some of her father's guards handcuffed her. She was too weak to stop them, since the earlier fight had taken a toll on her. "Just hauling your daughters off to jail and joining up with criminals from a different planet?" She glared at him. "Eventually your people will hear about it. And when they do, I swear to you that you will be overthrown."

He laughed. "No one is going to even try to disobey their king."

"We have," Starfire said hatefully.

"Look where you ended up."

Blazefire rolled her eyes. "You think you're so high and mighty," she said with a shake of her head. "But the ways of Earth won't stay on Earth. There were revolutions there, and there will be revolutions here. It isn't over with us, and it isn't over with the Titans. We're all going to get you, and convince Tamaran that they need a new government."

He laughed. "For a girl who has nothing better to do than impress a childhood friend by wearing revealing clothes, you almost pose a threat."

Starfire laughed at that. "She has beaten you numerous times, Father. Perhaps that wording would be understandable in some cases, but not in this one. You know your daughter has posed a threat for some time now, and that foolish talk is for…" Starfire wasn't good at insults, so she turned to Blazefire for help.

"For bastards like you!" Blazefire finished angrily, hurling a throat-buster-bolt at her father. Although she was weak, there was enough hatred and energy in her for it to cause sever damage, so it blew up hard in his gut, causing him to fall unconscious. Slade then ordered the guards to take Starfire and Blazefire to the enclosed dungeon area.

As Starfire and Blazefire walked inside, they both gasped slightly. Inside was not the high-and-mighty Blackfire they knew. She was pouting on the floor, her violet eyes glaring at the ground. But her body had no life to it – it was shivering, weak, and tired. Her clothes were in shreds, and her hair was unkempt and streaked with dirt and weeds.

The Blackfire they knew was a goddess who got what she wanted.

The Blackfire they saw looked nearly dead.

"Sister!" Starfire shrieked as soon as she saw her sister. "Please, what could have possibly happened to put you in this condition? Surely your jail time alone has not caused you to appear so…"

"Pathetically revolting?" Blazefire suggested with a snort.

"And you are?" Blackfire asked curiously. "I suppose you're the latest addition to the Titans," she added after looking at Blazefire with raised eyebrows. "And since you didn't have a uniform, Star gave you a suggestion?"

Blazefire snorted again. "Honestly, I would expect you to at least remember that you _had _another sister, but since Flamey didn't, I guess it's obvious that you wouldn't."

"_Blazefire_?" Blackfire choked out, coughing up a storm. "I thought you were dead, or something. And what happened to you, anyway? The last time I saw you, you had short, shaggy blonde hair and scratchy skin."

"Earth has good beaches, good lotion, and good fashion advice," Blazefire explained. "Besides, my looks aren't a big deal. Your hair and Flamey's hair… they're the same length as my hair, your eyes are the same, we're the same height, the same weight… God, it sucks to have sisters!"

"Blazefire, you know I totally hate you, right?" Blackfire asked with a sneer.

"I don't think you hate me. I think you fear me."

Blackfire smirked at her sister. "Actually, I used to fear you, when you were a threat. Now I could beat you easily. As "Flamey" knows, I'm a very good fighter now."

Blazefire laughed. She was the queen of comebacks. "I'm sure that's why you've landed yourself in your father's prison," she said sarcastically.

"If not for me, you two would be hosed!" Blackfire said angrily. "This idiot was here, waiting to kill Starfire. If I hadn't fought him, he'd be fighting you right now."

"So that answers my earlier question!" Starfire said, apparently delighted for finally getting an answer. "You are thanked for eliminating our enemy, for he was most despised by me especially."

"He had the hots for you, I could tell," Blackfire said. "Apparently the whole team has had some new female hotties, actually – you and this Melanie I'm hearing so much about. He called you, Lana, though. Why?"

"That's what Rhustin and Cyborg call me. It's my Earth name."

"I understand Rhustin, but why would Cyborg care?"

"I believe Cyborg has what you call "the hots" for Blazefire," Starfire explained, excited to be in a conversation with her reunited sisters.

"Rhustin!" Blackfire said suddenly. "I mean, I noticed, but I just now realized him… you were in love with him, I remember that. How's it going with that guy?"

"Perhaps this Rhustin could get us out of here," Starfire suggested. "That is, if he really is in love with you."

"They're going out?" Blackfire asked with raised eyebrows.

"No," Blazefire said quickly. "And we should contact the Titans before we contact Rhustin, obviously." As she said this, she took out her communicator. It picked up after the first ring.

"Where are you?" Robin demanded. "We've been calling for hours!"

Blazefire blushed. "Um, they must have gotten turned off."

"Why didn't you call sooner?"

"We were having a reunion," Blackfire explained, her face showing next to Blazefire's in Robin's communicator.

"What is she doing over there?"

"Um, helping us out, cool it," Blazefire said easily. "Anyway, we're in Tamaran, at the castle you went to before. But first you have to apologize to Flamey."

Robin grimaced. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You're so stupid!" she nearly shouted. "You idiot! You're acting like you don't even care about her! Just apologize! She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Sister!" Starfire whispered into her sister's ear. "What are you doing?"

Blazefire sighed. "You better apologize," she said, handing the communicator to Starfire.

Starfire protested, but she ended up holding it and looking away from the screen, blushing. Robin, on the other hand, was sighing, taking in her beauty and hurt – especially her hurt – and feeling incredibly guilty. But he couldn't just apologize! He could never apologize. It just wasn't something he did.

After a few minutes, Blazefire snatched the communicator. She let out a stream of curses, then said, "You idiot, apologize to her right now! She is your girlfriend, or was. You can't just do something like that without consequence!"

"Maybe you should let us sort our problems out on our own!"

Blazefire glared at him. "You know what, Robin? I don't want you coming. The other Titans can come, but don't come, okay? Just… don't come. You hate Blackfire, you hate Starfire, and I'm guessing you hate me. So stay at home. You'll have more fun."

"You're part of the team. It's my duty to come!"

Starfire snatched the communicator away from her sister. "Is that all we are to you?" she demanded in a very un-Starfire-like way. "Part of the team? I don't want to be just part of the team to you! Neither does Blazefire! If you're going to act like this, then why don't you just leave the Titans? I promise you, you won't be missed!"

"But, Starfire-"

"Shut up!" she shouted. "You bastard, you keep trying to be a romantic when you can't even apologize! Red X is right! You can't apologize, and you can't treat me right! Why would I want to be with _you_?" she spat.

Blazefire and Blackfire were nodding, urging her on.

"Starfire, I don't understand. What did I do that was so wrong?"

"Stop playing dumb with me, Boy Blunder! I am so sick of you! You acted like you didn't care what I had to say, like all you cared about me was…" She shrugged. "I don't know what you like about me. Is it the way I look, Robin? Because obviously you don't care about anything I have to say, or how I feel!"

"Starfire, I don't like you just for the way you look! But don't you think you're being a little paranoid? I mean, this isn't you."

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "You have no idea what I am like! You don't pay attention to anything I have to say! How on Earth could you possibly know what's me and what isn't? This is the 'me' that's been in me for a while, dying to get out! And here it is!"

"Starfire, I know you fine. You were my best friend, and then my girlfriend-"

"I wish I never was your girlfriend!" she said, fuming. "I should have known when we weren't even going out that you were a coldhearted liar!"

"I'm not coldhearted!" he said, starting to get angry.

"What about that time you grabbed her arm and twisted it? Even when she told you she was hurting, you didn't stop, just because of some freak of an enemy! You never apologized for that! You should have heard how sad she was to the other Titans! They told me everything!" Blazefire chimed in, helping Starfire out.

"That was a long time ago!" Robin said angrily. "You want me to apologize for that? Fine, I'm sorry!" he said angrily, not sounding at all sincere.

"You idiot, that was the worst apology I have ever heard! And that wasn't it, either! There were endless times when you slammed the door in her face or turned down her offers for roof hangouts just over stupid Slade!" Blazefire screeched.

"Robin," Starfire said simply, "I want you to leave the Teen Titans. And do not come back." Her regular voice was back now, but her voice was hollow and cold as ice.

Robin just looked at them for a moment, then started to close his communicator.

"Wait!" Blazefire said quickly. "You might be a loser, but we still need to talk to Mel and Rae and BB."

"What about Cyborg?" Blackfire asked her.

Blazefire shrugged, trying to act casual although she didn't want to talk to him at all. "Sure, whatever, him too."

Soon enough, the others came into view. "Dude!" Beastboy said immediately. "Star, what did you say to him? He was so pissed, and he was like-"

"Mad," Raven finished for him, not wanting Starfire to hear anything she shouldn't. Beastboy looked mad, but then again, he was always mad at Raven now. "Look, did you tell Robin to quit the Titans?"

The others blushed slightly, but Starfire said boldly, "I did."

"You can't just tell him to leave, Star," Cyborg said quietly.

Blazefire glared at him. How could she love him and hate him so much at the same time? "She can do what she wants, and she had every right to tell him to leave."

"You're not the one who makes the decisions around here," Raven said in her monotone voice. "Whether you like it or not, Cyborg is the leader, and you can't dismiss Robin without even consulting him. Neither of you can."

Blazefire glared at Raven. "Having a leader is pointless. Look at what happened to Tamaran with a leader! The same thing will happen to the Titans!"

"The Titans have always had a leader!" Cyborg said defensively.

"So have many countries, and it sucked for them," Beastboy reminded them. "But I'm not taking sides."

"A country without a leader would be worse," Raven argued, taking Cyborg's side.

"She's right. Where would America be without a leader?"

"Well, America was a bad example, because about half the country hates their leader, but where would plenty of countries be without their leader?" Blackfire asked with a grin. "I mean, I get what you're saying, but I've heard about American times," she said with a laugh.

**(I'm just stating the truth – don't hate me if you're Republican, but a little less than half of America does hate Bush, so it was true… but whatever, just don't hate me and keep reading.)**

"This isn't about having a leader!" Melanie said loudly. "This isn't even really about Robin leaving. It's about Starfire and Robin, and it's personal! We need to leave it alone! If Robin leaves, that's his decision. If he doesn't, then we'll deal with it!"

This aroused a lot of fighting. Soon Raven, Cyborg, and Blackfire were screaming at Starfire, Blazefire, and Beastboy while Melanie was trying to simmer things down.

"You know what?" Blazefire asked. She didn't speak at all loudly, but she said it in such a way that all talking ceased and all eyes turned to her. "Blackfire, Starfire and I are stuck in a prison, planets and planets away from Earth, and you all are sitting here yelling at us. So fine, okay? We'll find our own way home, and you all can sit on stupid Earth and fight your stupid bad guys. But once we escape, don't expect us to come back."

Starfire nodded solemnly, and Blackfire didn't deserve a say, so they hung up.

**The Tower:**

"Robin!" Beastboy said, knocking on his door and walking in. Robin was sitting on his bed, looking at an old photo album. Beastboy knew he shouldn't interfere with Robin's pictures, so he said, "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"You decide," Robin said simply, barely looking up.

"Well, the good news is that you can stay here with us."

Robin turned his entire face up now. "Really? Starfire said it's okay?"

"Well, that's where the bad news comes in. The Fires said they're not coming back. That means you can stay, but they aren't going to."

"You can't just let them go!" Robin said immediately. "I mean, just because Starfire's mad at me doesn't mean-"

Beastboy glared at Robin. "You think this is _my _fault?" he demanded. "This is your fault, okay? You're the one who did whatever you did – I haven't heard it all, but I heard about spying and not caring and being jealous – and didn't apologize. Maybe if you apologized for any of the stupid things you did to her, she'd want to stay!"

Cyborg had approached the door and walked in after hearing voices. "We can't just let them go," he said simply. It was his decision as of now, and he had the say in the matter.

Just then, Melanie walked into the room. "You guys, what I said earlier was true," she said with a sigh, "because they are our friends, no matter what. Listen to me, and listen clear: love is a battlefield. Fight for those who you love, and fight to win their love."

"What if you don't love them?" Cyborg demanded.

"You'll know if you don't love them. But in war, do you stop helping an ally because of personal interference?"

Cyborg sighed.

Robin sighed.

Beastboy sighed.

"Let's get our girls back," they said at once.

Robin smiled. "It sounds like a plan," he said simply. "But first, I think I really have to take a rest. This is stressing me out."

"We could all use some sleep," Melanie agreed.

They all went to their individual rooms, and Robin fell asleep within seconds. He then dreamt about five years ago… when he met Starfire.

**Four Years Ago Robin's POV:**

It was another ordinary day – Raven, Cyborg, and I were all hanging out in the main room. Cy was fighting the computer on his latest game station game, Raven was reading her latest horror novel, and I was making lunch for all of us. We were all pretty young – I was eleven, Raven was twelve, and Cyborg was twelve. Still, we've learned how to keep ourselves going without parents around – because we don't have any parents.

In fact, we weren't only keeping ourselves going, we're keeping our whole city going.

We were the Teen Titans…

…Just not teenagers yet. Almost, remember. Just not quite.

Anyway, we'd be teenagers soon, and then maybe the town would take us seriously. Still, I can understand why they don't. I mean, two boys and one girl, first of all. I'm surprised the police haven't taken us to jail yet, considering she's sort of like our roommate, Raven is. And Cy are so clueless that no one can take him seriously.

I guess the city trusts me, since I used to work for Batman. I'm the Titans Leader, so I'm glad they trust me. Still, they must think I'm pretty crazy, giving up life with Batman for this new guild, or whatever.

But hey, Batman's with the Justice League now. I'm with the Titans.

Back to the story.

I walked into main room with lunch – for Cyborg, an entire ham nicely cooked with a side of carrots (he wants his good eye to get almost as good as his computer eye), for Raven, an herbal tea and some weird Gothic crackers I found in the pantry (which she looked pleased with), and for myself, a slice of leftover pizza and some potato chips.

It was then that the doorbell rang.

Most people don't ring our doorbell, you see, because the T Tower is very hard to get to. People either call or trigger our alarms. That's why there was slight interest in our faces. I quickly offered to answer it.

So I did.

She was beautiful.

She was my age, but she looked so much more mature, so much more caring, and so much more wise than any of the people I knew that were my age. She had a look to her that clearly stated intelligence.

She had flowing red hair that was brushed nicely into place, and went down to her elbows in loose waves. She had stunning emerald eyes that shone with hope when they looked at me. Her soft, smooth skin was tinted with a slight orange, and she was slim and tall for her age.

She was clothed in a strange outfit, a purple miniskirt and long, long purple boots. She had a matching top and many strange things that I could only imagine were native to her home country… or planet…

"Greetings, friend," she said in a sweet, pure voice.

"Um," I said, pretty much dumbfounded. "Hi."

"I came to the people of your city, and they suggested that I should come here and ask Robin if I could stay at his… tower."

"Not to be rude," I said, blushing, "but we're sort of superheroes, and we only get this place because we fight off the bad guys. We can't really have a hotel service." I couldn't believe how rude I was being, but it was my duty as a leader.

"Then you are Robin?"

"Yeah," I said blushing. "Look, they have some hotels here. Maybe they could help you out. But we need superpowers or really good fighting skills here."

"What are these 'superpowers' of which you speak?" the girl asked me curiously. "For I do believe I have fighting skills of plenty."

As gorgeous as she was, this girl was a riot. She thought that she could be a Titan. She was beautiful, but in a damsel-in-distress way, not a fighter way. "Superpowers," I responded with a sigh. "As in shooting things out of your eyes or hands or flying or running really fast or telepathic abilities or something."

She looked excited. "I can shoot things out of my hands! I can fly, as well!"

I raised my eyebrows at this, but before I could protest, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the sky.

I know I'm cautious, and I know I can give orders easily. But I couldn't bring myself to tell her to stop, or not to trust her. All I knew was that that moment was perfect, no doubt in my mind.

Now that I think about it, it was pretty unbelievable. Mostly the fact that she could fly, but also the fact that she could carry me. Now I know that it's because of her strength superpowers, but back then I thought it was a miracle.

Just like her.

Once we landed, she showed me her other powers, her "starbolts" – green beams that she could shoot out of her hands. Then I agreed to let her stay as a guest of the Titans until it was agreed between us that she was trustworthy and could stay.

It could take time to convince Cyborg and Raven that she was trustworthy.

I knew from the start that she was.

The next few weeks with the girl – she told me her name was Koriand'r, but to call her Starfire – made me feel like I was living in a dream world. I guess Cyborg and Raven noticed it too, but they said nothing about it besides teasing me once in a while when Starfire wasn't around me.

We all knew that she was trustworthy after the first day, but we clearly announced her being the newest Titan four weeks later, in front of the entire city. They were pleased to have someone who looked normal (although, coming from the planet Tamaran, she was not), and that was about when the Titans' popularity with the city rose.

Starfire didn't change once she became a Titan. The others were hoping she would gain a little more responsibility (as smart and clever as she was, she was also naïve and confused a lot of the time), but I didn't want her to. I wanted her to stay exactly how she was.

And she did, for the most part. She gained her eyebolts later and of course she grew, but today Starfire is still as naïve and cutely confused as she always was.

And I still love her for it.

**Robin's Room:**

Robin awoke with a start. He couldn't believe he ever could have forgotten how Starfire came, and how wonderful she was. But there was one thing about her that had changed that he hadn't thought of in his dream, and that he felt partly responsible for. He wasn't sure if this was good or bad, but he had actually made Starfire less oblivious.

Normally this was good.

Now, however, he knew it might be bad.

Starfire wasn't so polite any more. After being with her sisters and being angry with him, she had discovered true anger.

And she had let it out.

Robin smiled as he thought of his conversation with Beastboy (who wasn't there yet in his dream) and Cyborg. They were right. He saw love as a battlefield now, and the girls were against the boys.

But the girls wanted the boys to leave them.

And the boys wanted the girls to forgive them.

**Me:**

How do you like it? Now the guys want the girls to forgive them without their having to apologize, and the girls want nothing to do with them? Isn't my story so jolly and happy?

Things get better, I promise.

SNEAK PEAK FOR NEXT CHAPTER:

It will be called "Divide and Conquer." Robin and Red X and Cyborg are going to go after the girls, BB is going after Philip, and Raven and Melanie are going after Slade. Stonefire will be left alone until the girls are freed, then dealt with in the worst way.

Sound cool?

REVIEW RESPONSES:

**TeEn TitAn 14: **Aw, you're back! Anyway, Red X isn't going to end up with Bumblebee, but it was a good guess! You'll find out who it was pretty soon, I think. Thanks about the whole I-should-have-a-million-reviews thing, but really, it's okay. I'm just glad I have the reviewers that stick – like you, Pookey, solodancer789, warprince2000, and Savi. As long as you guys review, I don't care that much about anyone else, because you're the ones that keep me happy with my stories! Anyway, thanks for your suggestion, but you're right, I do have a plot. Still, it was a good idea. And it's okay that you haven't reviewed in a while, I'm just glad that you're doing it again! Wow, that was long, or at least on my laptop… anyway, thanks!

**Savi: **You were right! You can't not update until summer! Are you kidding me? That's like four or five months away from now! And I like your story! You need to update at least before March! And sorry I didn't update before February, but I've been kind of swamped with homework and extracurriculars and our variety show and stuff like that. Still, I'll keep remembering to update as much as I can!

**Warprince2000: **Aw, I can't believe you wrote something different! I'm used to you writing the same thing all the time, but this time it was different! Thanks so much! You'll probably just write the usual again now, but if you want to, maybe you could tell me… hmm, your favorite character? If you do, then awesome! Oh, and I meant to learn not to type the same thing over and over again, but you did that, so never mind! Thanks!

**Pookey: **You hate Terra, too? That's so cool, I know! Go us is right! –does a really weird cheer- I'm not exactly a cheerleader… hmm… but aren't you the one who's bio said you were a cheerleader? Maybe you can teach me! No, just kidding, lol. Cheerleading sounds like fun, but I'm really busy right now, which is why I haven't been reviewing Slipped Pieces. I'm really sorry about that, but I can't catch up on anyone's stories – it's not just you. Thanks!

Almost eight pages this time! I'm so close! If I can just get to eight pages, then I'll have a new record! I'll aim for it in the next chapter!

Lovin' Ya,

Kweenie


	13. Divide and Conquer, but First, Meet Up

Here I am, back again. You're lucky I never get tired of writing. Some people do get tired, but I don't, because I know there are faithful people out there who really want me to update. That's what keeps me going… plus the fact that I love Teen Titans and I love writing this fic, even though I could understand if some people hated it, because after all, I make the characters fight like crazy. Still, I'm glad my reviewers and readers like it, and I'm especially glad that no one has flamed me!

So, this chapter is, as I previewed, going to be about people breaking up into groups to find the girls, and also about the guys trying to get the girls back. I mean, I feel for Robin here, but it was his own fault that he didn't care about what she had to say. Still, I am a full Robin-Starfire supporter, and my fic will totally have them in it. Oh, and by the way… I changed the title of this, and it's because of something you'll read in this chapter.

A little about my personal life, if you want to know… well, it's going really well, first of all. I mean, I'm not too thrilled with my grades (mostly A's, but a B or C in math and German), but outside of grades it's a great life (and outside of my house, where my parents are a little… ahem, strict), and best of all, this guy asked me out, and he's so sweet and cute and nice, and we talk all the time anyway, and I already sit next to him in THREE classes. All my friends say we're perfect together, and he asked me to the Valentine's Day dance and everything, and he's soooo nice! Hopefully that didn't bore you, but I like to let out some of my feelings every once in a while. But on with the story.

Disclaimer: IDOTT, but the whole Titan's East thing is so cool to me that I think Cartoon Network (which I also don't own) is actually doing better than I considered with their show. If they just boosted up the Rob-Starness a tiny bit, I wouldn't even want to own the show.

Dedication: This one's for you again, **warprince2000**, because this time you talked even more, and it's great! You do have an attitude, and way interesting things to say, so why didn't you say them sooner? No worries, I don't mind. Anyway, thanks so much for talking, and your response is at the end!

Chapter Thirteen: Divide, Conquer… But First, Meet Up

**The Tower:**

"Cyborg," Robin said, rushing up to his leader. "Is the sub ready? We have to do this. We have to get them!"

"As much as I want to get Blazefire to forgive me and all, I don't think we should leave just yet. I think we need to make a plan and-"

Robin glared at him. "We don't have time for a plan!"

"Not to sound uncaring here, but I'm sure they're being fed, so a few days' difference isn't going to mean their lives or even their health. We should just calm down, make a plan, agree on it, then leave."

Determined to convince Cyborg to change his mind, Robin said, "If we don't get there soon, the girls are going to call that Rhustin guy, and then Blazefire will forget all about you and go off with him."

Cyborg said quickly, "I'll go get the sub ready. Get everyone in the kitchen so we can form a short, brief, and to-the-point plan."

"You got anything up your sleeve?"

Cyborg grinned. "I do. Three words: divide and conquer."

TIMEFORPLANNINGTIMEFORPLANNINGTIMEFORPLANNINGTIMEFORPLANNING

"Melanie," Cyborg said in an orderly voice. "Needless to say, you can't travel alone, no offense. You need to find someone who you want to pair up with. And it can't be Aqualad – he has no business with this mission, and he's not helping."

Melanie nodded. "I don't get why, but whatever. I'll go with Rae."

Raven looked slightly touched that Melanie had chosen her over any of the guys, but tried to keep her emotions intact. "What'll we do?" she asked Cyborg.

"You two can go after Slade," Cyborg said. "Slade kills a lot of people. I'm sure if Melanie tries, she can summon up some of the dead people he buries, or whatever, to help you. Raven, you can fight him."

Beastboy muttered something that Raven found close to "She won't fight him, she'll just make out with him," but no one else heard.

"I would _never,_" Raven spat, "make out with that psychotic freak."

Beastboy glared right back and said, "He likes you. He told you to go over to his house. And you did. Rae, he's _Slade, _and you went willingly over to his house."

"I never even GOT to his house!" Raven thundered.

"Yeah, because your honey decided to go and kidnap your friends who, by the way, you didn't even rescue!"

That hurt her, because of course she had tried. A light went off nearby, but Cyborg figured it was just a mistake of his, and went off to fix it. Raven didn't let Beastboy know he hurt her, and said instead, "That's because my powers weren't working! What did you expect, for me to beat up a metal guy?"

"Robin can!"

"I'm not Robin! Robin spends all his training time in karate, and I spend all my training time either meditating or using my psychic abilities, not karate."

"Then why didn't your powers work, if you practice with them so much?"

"I don't know! I guess worrying about my friends triggered a disturbance in my psychic part of the brain, or something! Why would you care?" As she said this, three more lights burned out, and Cyborg was starting to get suspicious.

"You want to know what triggered your brain? Slade, your sweetheart, hurting your friends! That's what did it!"

"You sick green freak!" Raven shouted. "Why would Slade ever be my sweetheart? He's an insane murderer who wants to kill me!"

"I don't know why he'd be your sweetheart. I'm still trying to figure that out! But he is, and you like it!"

"SHUT UP!" Cyborg said angrily, walking over to them. "Raven, I'm not cleaning after your mess. Beastboy, you're an idiot if you think Raven likes Slade – that's just creepy. Both of you need to stop fighting before the entire tower falls apart!"

Raven nodded. "You're right," she said. "I need to find Slade and Melanie can help me stop him." She turned to Beastboy. "I might be in his mind, BB," she teased. "I can't wait to flirt with him. That metal is just _so _hot," she said sarcastically.

Melanie laughed. "Yeah, and have you heard that sexy voice?" she asked, not realizing how serious the situation was.

Beastboy glared at Raven, and turned to Melanie, fuming. "You don't know why I know what I know about Slade, but I think you should stay out of it."

"Chill out, little green man," she teased, ruffling his hair. "We used to be friends, you know. You could be a little nicer to me."

Beastboy shouted, "Just stay out of it!"

"Beastboy, I think you should go after Philip," Cyborg ordered. "Robin knows him too well, and he'd lose control out of temper. Robin and I are going to find the girls, so you'll have to go alone."

"I'm not going against that psycho alone!" Beastboy said in horror.

"Aqualad could help him," Melanie suggested.

"No, he's on another mission against some sea enemies," Robin said. "I just called him, despite what Cyborg said."

"Who else is there?"

"Speedy and Bumblebee and everyone else would take too long to explain the situation to," Cyborg said. "Who does that leave us with?"

After what seemed like a century of cold, helpless thoughts, Robin said in a brave, clear voice, "Red X will help."

Cyborg gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am. Listen, Cyborg. You and Blazefire have had a lot of fights, and even though Starfire and I have too, I think it'll be better for you to come later. I still love Starfire, and I know she still loves me at least a little, but we don't know that about you and Blazefire. As for Red X, he has to come with me."

"Fine," Cyborg said with a sigh. "I get what you mean."

"Melanie and Raven, after Slade. Search the main cities of Tamaran for him, and Raven, you can search his mind. Robin and Red X will go secretly to the dungeons, and fight only who they must. But before they enter, they have to get the keys so they don't end up locked in, too. BB and I will go after Philip, and we'll just search the city, too. Once Slade and Philip are done with and the Fires are saved, then we'll deal with Stonefire."

Smirking at Beastboy, Raven turned to Melanie and said, "Come on, Mel. I have to get into Slade's mind before he goes to bed. I wouldn't want to wake my boyfriend up."

Beastboy glared at her, but said nothing as Melanie laughed and followed Raven out.

RAVENINSLADESMINDANDMELANIEWONDERINGWHATINTHEWORLDISGOINGON

"Do you really think we can take on Slade?" Melanie asked Raven. "I mean, he can turn into anything he wants just like BB, and he's a mastermind too."

"Yes, I do think we can. If you summon the dead and try to suck out some of the live you gave him like you did for Philip and I use as much of my psychic powers as possible, I do think we can beat him."

Melanie nodded as they walked into Raven's room. "So, are you going to go into your boyfriend's mind now?" she teased.

Raven laughed slightly. She had lead Melanie to believe that it was all a joke, so she might as well go along with the joke. "I wonder what Slade would say if he heard you say _that,_" Raven laughed.

"Well, if he liked you, he'd be glad."

Raven shuddered. "That's creepy," she commented, then sat down on her bed and searched the mind of Slade.

RAVENINSLADESMINDISNOTGOINGTOBEAVERYHAPPYTHINGANDPOORMELANIE

_Raven. So good of you to join me again._

**Where are you?**

_I'm not sure I want to tell you that. Then you'd just run over and try to kill me._

**Well, you're a bad guy and I'm a good guy. That's what I do.**

_You sound sarcastic, but you forget Red X and Robin. They've been good and bad easily… _

**Red X _was _Robin, until a real Red X came. And he's only helping for Star.**

_Ah, your silly little redhead friend. If you ask me, the three sisters are worthless._

**Two of them are Titans, and the other still isn't worthless!**

_You sound agitated, Raven. Perhaps you should come and find me._

**Yeah, to get this over with.**

_Go to the palace, then travel a few miles west of there._

**That's where you are?**

_No, but that's where you can stay. You can look for me from there._

**So you live around there?**

_Possibly._

**God, why are all bad guys such idiots?**

_Why on Earth are all good guys so headstrong?_

HEADSTRONG?ILLTAKEYOUONCANTSAYTHATILLBEATANYONEBUTINOTHATYOU…

"I know where we should go," Raven said to Melanie when she exited her mind-trance.

"Great," Melanie said cheerfully. "Maybe we should tell the others first."

Raven shook her head. "I can breathe in outer space, and I can give you something so you can, too. I can fly us there. There's no point in waiting for them. Besides, they're probably just getting into some fight anyway."

"If you're sure," Melanie said uneasily.

"Hello, it's either go to Tamaran safely or go to Tamaran in danger because the captain of the T-Sub is busy fighting with BB?"

Melanie shrugged. "I guess you're right," she admitted. "Still, even if I wasn't, I'd feel safer with more people."

"Well, with Star and Blazefire gone, there's not much of anything else to do," Raven said sorrowfully.

Melanie nodded. "You're right; there's not. But if we kill Slade, BB and Cy kill Philip, and Robin and X get them, then we'll have more people. We'll be able to feel safe again," Melanie explained.

Raven nodded. "I wish they were here so much. Starfire because she'd keep cheering me on, and Blazefire because she'd never let me give up or stop trying. She'd work me until I slipped into a coma if she came along, but I still feel like I need her. How is that?"

"It's friendship, Rae," Melanie said softly, taking Raven's hand and letting her lead her out of the tower and into space. "Friendship does wonderful things."

Raven smiled as she slipped a small black insert into Melanie's throat to help her breathe in space. "You're right," she agreed. "Friendship," she whispered into the wind. It was a word that would stay with her forever.

TIMEFORROBINTOCALLREDXNOWAREYOUNOTTHRILLEDANDEXCITEDATWHATWILLHAPPEN?

Robin hesitated many times before knocking on the door of a dwelling which he was certain belonged to X. There were red graphite X's all over it, and an obvious force field that Robin could tell, if turned on, could be dangerous.

Red X opened the door warily, and became even more alert when he saw Robin. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Robin said, without pausing, "Your help."

Red X laughed. "You want my help," he repeated dubiously. "Although I have many reasons to trust you, maybe I should-"

"I want your help with Starfire," Robin said. "You'll help her, won't you?"

"And by helping Starfire I assume you mean fighting Slade and Philip and the others at home while you go actually saving the girl?"

"Actually, those jobs are for everyone else. Me and you are finding Star."

Red X still looked skeptical. "I shouldn't do this," he said simply. "I want to help Star, but I can't be with you alone."

Robin shrugged. "Call her, then. Tell her that you're joining me in the search, and if you don't show up, then that means I killed you. Then she won't love me, and you'll get you want."

Red X looked at Robin thoughtfully. "You're for real, aren't you?"

Robin grinned, sticking out a hand. "You in?"

"I'm in," Red X agreed, shaking Robin's hand. "It's a new partnership."

Robin called everyone on their communicators, and everyone picked up. They discussed their latest findings and where they thought everyone was, then all nodded, agreeing it was set. "I've got three words for you," Cyborg said just as he had before. "All of you. Divide… and… conquer."

CYBORGANDBEASTBOYAREFEELINGSADANDVERYREJECTEDRIGHTNOW

"I can't believe this," Beastboy muttered. "Sure. It so figures. I can't go kick the butt of the guy who likes my ex girlfriend! Instead, she has to! And that means instead of kicking his butt, she's probably going to just go and make out with him!"

"Look, BB. I just knew you'd get too emotional if you went after Slade. I think Robin will be too emotional going after Star, but he'll be more determined then ever, and he'll go well with Red X."

"Dude, but Raven? She probably likes him! He's so gothic and mysterious and everything, just like her, and-"

"Shut up, man!" Cyborg shouted. "You're not the only one who didn't get what you wanted, okay? I wanted to go after Star, too, because Lana is there! But I knew that it would be wrong, because Lana hates me, and I basically hate her!"

"How can you hate her if you're in love with her?"

"You are, too! You should know!"

Beastboy sighed. "Okay, fine. Listen. We need to just get along. I'll deal with my situation if you deal with yours."

"You sound freakishly mature," Cyborg teased.

"Yeah? Well, I bet I can beat you to the T-Sub!"

"No animals!" Cyborg said with a grin, and sped off. He was about to win when Beastboy morphed into a cheetah and grabbed the lead.

"Dude!" Beastboy shouted victoriously as he hopped into the sub. "I so kicked your robotic butt!"

"Yeah, 'cause your little green self was cheating!"

"I wasn't cheating! I was just bending the rules a little!"

"I still think a rematch is fair!"

Just as they were arguing about who truthfully won the race, Robin and Red X walked up to them. "We're ready to go," Robin said.

"Melanie and Raven aren't coming with us," Cyborg reported, sending Beastboy fuming again. "They're going on their own. So it's just the four of us… let's go!"

They all hopped into the sub (which was again made for outer space) and took off in the same pattern they had gone twice before. Soon they landed on the fires' home planet and slowly and cautiously entered the pinkish planet.

RAVENANDMELANIEAREGOINGTHESLOWERWAYINTOTHEFIRESHOMEPLANETTAMARANNOW

"Okay," Raven said as calmly as possible, "We need to leave before that starts to sink in and you can't breathe here on Earth anymore. By the time we leave this planet, it should have sunk in properly, and you can-"

Melanie rolled her eyes and grabbed her throat as if she couldn't breathe. She jerked around like she was panicking. Raven immediately grabbed her and brought her into outer space, where Melanie laughed.

"I wasn't seriously having trouble breathing, Rae," she explained. "I just wanted us to get moving."

Raven was about to say something mean, but instead she laughed along. "I guess I get more gullible as I get more frantic."

"Most people do."

Raven blushed. "I know," she lied.

"I forgot," Melanie said with a curious and knowing look. "You come from a different planet just like Star. Why don't you ever ask questions about our culture or whatever Star always asks about?"

"I've been on Earth long enough to know most things," Raven explained. "There are some things that I don't understand, but that I think I'll never learn. And then other things, like how a regular human feels, I often worry about. I mean, I didn't know about the frantic/gullible thing. Some things about myself I believe to be strange until I am proved wrong," she said. She loved opening up to someone who didn't mind listening.

Melanie nodded. "Maybe if you talked about Azerath sometimes, then-"

"There is nothing about Azerath to talk about!" Raven said sharply. "It's a terrible planet, unlike Tamaran. God, sometimes I can't stand hearing Starfire drone on about her stupid home planet and how perfect it was."

"I'm sorry," Melanie said softly. "But you know it's different for Star. She's oblivious to everything here. I'm sure if she knew it would hurt you, it'd stop."

Raven shrugged. "It's okay. I mean, I know that, too. But sometimes I wish she weren't so oblivious. Especially all those years when she was the only other girl."

Melanie laughed. "That sure changed, with me and Blazefire and Blackfire."

"Blackfire?" Raven asked in surprise. "What's she got to do with anything?"

"Don't snap at me," Melanie said innocently. "I just thought she'd, you know, want to be a Titan. Wouldn't you let her?"

"We already tried that once before," she spat. "Blackfire is a bad person. An imposter, even. She's just like-" Raven blushed as she realized what she was about to say.

"My sister," Melanie said sadly. "I know. You don't have to say it, but I know that's what you're thinking. "Maybe I was wrong about Blackfire. But you've still got me and Blazefire, and we're here to stay."

Just as Raven was about to get emotional, she was driven back into sanity when she saw a spacecraft approaching that wasn't the T-Sub. She darted out of sight, hoping Melanie would know to cling on. She did.

"What are you doing?" Melanie demanded angrily. "It's just a spaceship, no big deal. It's not like they'll try to kill us."

"That's Rhustin!" Raven said, darting behind it. "He's going to try to rescue Blazefire!"

"Well, she'll still be rescued."

"You don't understand. Once he saves her, she'll fall in love with him!"

Melanie shrugged obliviously. "If Cyborg's too slow, Rhustin can have her. She does deserve a guy, after all she's been through."

"You idiot!" Raven spat. "Remember what you said about Blazefire and you always being there for me… and the team?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So she's not going to be here if Rhustin convinces her to go away with him!"

TIMEFORALITTLEBBCYBUTNOTINTHESLASHYWAYCAUSETHATSKINDOFGROSS

Robin and Red X were frantically discussing their "save Star… oh, and the others…" mission in the sub, so Beastboy and Cyborg decided not to interfere. Instead they talked about girls. Hey, you know the ones.

"I have a question," Beastboy said to Cyborg.

"Shoot."

"Well, it's about Raven. I mean, I was thinking about it, and… well, maybe she never even liked me. What about me would she like?"

"Raven of all people doesn't care about green skin, BB."

"I'm not talking about the color of my skin," Beastboy said. "But the ladies find my green tint sexy," he added with a grin.

"Sure they do," Cyborg said sarcastically.

Beastboy sighed, as if giving up on his cause. Then he went back to the original. "Well, I was talking about me. I mean, why would she like a game station-obsessed comedian shape-changer when she could have…"

"Have what?" Cyborg asked distractedly. He was only mildly listening, as he had other things on his mind.

"You know. _Slade._"

Cyborg laughed. "Are you kidding? Slade's evil."

"Yeah, but he's also totally her type! Besides the evil part, anyway."

"Raven will never like Slade if she can have you. I can tell she loves you, okay, BB? In her own way, she does."

Beastboy was touched, but said, "But why doesn't she just stop being paranoid?"

"You're the one who's way freaking mad with jealousy, not her!"

"Look who's talking, Mr. Rhustin-needs-to-burn-in-"

"I don't care about Rhustin!" Cyborg lied quickly, turning furiously as a spaceship swerved past them. He let out a stream of curses and a "Slow down before you hurt yourself, amateur!" to rub it in.

"Dude!" Beastboy said in surprise. "Look over there! Is that… Raven? And Melanie? Holding onto the back of that ship?"

Cyborg laughed. "Why would they be holding onto the back of it?"

"I don't know… do you think it might be…"

Seeing the nervous look on Beastboy's face, Cyborg became concerned. "What? Be who, BB?" he asked curiously.

"You know. Rhustin."

A panicked look appeared on Cyborg's face. "You're kidding, right?" he demanded.

"Well, it was just a-"

"I knew that bastard was coming back!" Cyborg shouted, slamming his foot on the gas petal and causing everyone to lurch backward.

"Cyborg!" Robin shouted. "_What _was that?"

"We've got to go," Cyborg said. "After. Them. I know my divide and conquer strategy isn't working, but we have to meet up again, even if we don't tell them."

Robin and Red X raised their eyebrows at each other, but stayed quiet. For once, so did Beastboy. Because he finally understood the importance of love.

And what had to be done to people who got in the way of it.

Robin was going to kill Red X after this was over with, most likely.

Cyborg was going to kill Rhustin.

And Beastboy was definitely going to kill Slade. Slade had hurt the women he loved one too many times.

Beastboy shuddered as he thought of Terra. _She was a fraud, _he thought, _whether she helped us in the end or not._

_Raven, though. She's perfect._

**Me: **

This was a pretty nice chapter, right? Not too much fighting. I know I brought Rhustin back (hello, I warned you that he'd be back) and all, but hello people! Rhustin is the one guy who can get Cyborg and Lana together.

Also, the next chapter is going to be called "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." I know my chapters are tragic and dramatic, but it's completely Rhustin-Lana-Cyborg, so it'll be very interesting. And if you hate Green Day, then I'm sorry, but I am completely in love with that song, so expect it.

Here's the question for next chapter's dedication (I finally remembered), and then I'll respond to my lovely reviewers!

_**When did the latest season (I think it's the fourth) begin airing, and what was the first episode of the new season?**_

**Savi: ** Aw, thanks! And all the Lana-Cy starts next chapter. Well, first they have to "walk alone," then they'll meet each other on their sidewalks, or whatever. I don't know, I only roughly planned it out. I hate English homework unless it has to do with writing or poetry, so I pity you. You're usually on your mobile on IM, but I'd love to give you ideas when you have the chance. I'm on almost every day. Thanks!

**Pookey: **Cool! My friend's a cheerleader, and I'm flexible and all (I do a lot of dance – lyrical, hip-hop, ballet, Pointe, jazz, you name it), but I don't have the time for cheerleading with my dance, my writing, and school. Still, it seems like it'd be fun! Robin wasn't in this chapter much, and he won't be in the next two chapters much, but chapter sixteen is going to be very RobStar-ry. **_DO YOU HEAR THAT, PEOPLE? CHAPTER SIXTEEN IS GOING TO BE A ROBSTAR CHAPTER! BE PREPARED!_** Thanks!

**TeEn TitAn 14: **I know! I know! I am so sick of Starfire getting walked over, and she's too nice to do anything about it! That's why I put it in there. I'm glad you think like me. All the RobStar will be in chapter sixteen (well, that's where it all begins, anyway), so be prepared for that! That makes me feel really great, about the favorite author thing! Thanks, and I updated, of course!

**Warprince2000: **See what I mean? You're so smart, and you have some good stuff to say, so why didn't you say it sooner? No worries, though. And now that I read it, you're really right. We've learned a lot about the other's pasts, but nothing about BB. I wonder if they'll make an episode about him this season. What do you think? And while you're talking (I love you so much!) why don't you answer the question I had up there, for yet another dedication? Thanks so much!

**Shemka oka4: **Thanks! I updated, and of course it's complicated! I love active plots! Thanks a ton, and I'm still rockin' and writin'!

**Solodancer789: **No problem-cough cough- Grammy winner. And EXCUSE ME? You might have convinced the mobs to take your side, but the lawyers who read my work will know that you really did steal the Grammy and not me, and boy will they be mad! I have all the lawyers on my side! Ha! Thanks!

Don't forget to answer the question!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lovin' and Rockin' Writin',

Kweenie


	14. Together and Apart

Okay, I am SO SORRY that this took so long, and I promise I will never put you all through this misery again! I DO have an explanation, though, if you want to hear it. See, I got very sick (I have this disease thing, you see, but I can't remember the name) for like a whole week, and then once I got better, this chapter sort of went down the drain. So then I had to start all over again but I had major writer's block. But than **Savi**, my newest hero(ine) got the writer's block away, and I was free to write – but then I got sick again! And after that, I got grounded!

If you asked me, I'd tell you that while most of the praise goes to Savi, a whole lot of it also goes to AOL Instant Messenger, which we used to get rid of our writer's block! Yay! HOWEVER, I am not using Green Day (unfortunately) because I changed my idea and Savi's into something kind of different. Anyway, if you're one of my readers reading this and you want to talk to me (I know I want to talk to all of you!) then you can leave your AIM screennames (if you have any) in your review for this chapter so I can talk to you and you can all help me if I get writer's block again! Oh, and one more thing, I'm going to make this chapter extra good for all of you waiting so long!

Dedication: Even though I'm not using her idea of putting the song in, I'm using her idea to do something else, so I'm really thankful to **Savi**, and I'm still using some of her idea. Thanks so much!

Disclaimer: IDOTT! I must get on with the chapter that is to be extra good to please my reviewers and readers, so I'll start now! This is going to be good, guys, I promise! I can't believe I made you wait more than a month!

Chapter Fourteen: Together and Apart

**The Tamaranian Prison:**

Blazefire sat angrily on her bed, glaring at the cold stone floor. She didn't say anything, and she didn't look mad at particularly one thing, just life in general. Still, Starfire wasn't sure, so she walked cautiously up to her sister.

"Sister?" she asked softly. "Perhaps there is something you wish to speak to me about? Like, perhaps, why you seem so lobstery?"

Blackfire laughed, but Blazefire kept staring at the floor, not even bothering to correct her sister. "This is pointless," she said in a scratchy voice. "My love life, my normal life, and now my life in prison. You know what I want? I want to find my soul mate, go back to the Tower, and of course get out of prison – though maybe not in that order."

"This is a plan that we all share," Starfire said, "but we must wait until the time is right to escape from here."

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell the guys not to come," Blackfire said. "Raven and Melanie sound like they don't want to be a part of this, and we can't do it without them."

"But perhaps Rhustin might come," Starfire said hopefully.

Just as she said this, they heard a sound at the door. Blazefire rushed in front of her other two sisters with blazebolts sharply glowing in her hands, her gloomy look at once turning into her fierce, determined one. "This might be our chance to get out," she explained.

They waited a few seconds for the door to open, but it didn't. Instead, they heard voices erupting from outside. The three sisters crept up to the crack in the door and listened intently to the verbal fight between…

Blazefire gasped. There was a fight between Cyborg and Rhustin – about her.

"What are you doing here?" Cyborg demanded.

Even through the huge metal door, Blazefire could tell Rhustin was smirking. "I'm here to get my girl, of course. I mean, since you couldn't rescue her, it's my turn."

"We just got here!" Cyborg argued. "We still can save her!"

Rhustin laughed. "You had your chance. It's gone now."

"You had a chance, too, and you didn't take it!"

Rhustin laughed. "Well, I'm rich, good-looking, and I've already had her heart once. People like me are allowed to have second chances. Third-class, half-robotic, unromantic idiots like you only get one."

All three of the girls winced at this. Blazefire made an I-told-you-he's-a-bastard look at the other two, then continued to listen.

"I don't think she's the kind of girl who cares about those things," Cyborg said stiffly.

"How would you know? I've known her my whole life, and most of that time we've been close. The time you have known her, you've fought with her." They heard a sharp bang, and then a hand on the doorknob.

"He kicked Cyborg!" Starfire gasped.

"Or punched him," Blackfire corrected. "I'm impressed. Can I have this guy?"

"This might be a guard," Starfire said. "With a key. It's taking a while."

Blazefire nodded. "You're right, guards never remember which keys are which at feeding time." She got in front of her sisters again, very protectively, with blazebolts glowing. "Maybe the bang was Rhustin and Cy getting kicked out-"

She stopped mid-sentence as the door opened to a handsome prince-like man – could it really be Rhustin? Then she realized that he'd done what she idiotically had done just days before – he changed his entire image for her. And it was _nice _– no wonder Cyborg had been pissed. Still, she glared at Rhustin cautiously. "Nice try," she said, "but I can still see the snake in you."

"That hurts," he said with a grin, "but I'm just like this because your father hired me to help in battle."

"So you got a crown?" she asked with a snort.

"No, your mother gave that to me. She said it was made for her son that she never had."

Blazefire snorted. "That's her pathetic way of saying she wants you to marry me."

He shrugged. "Perhaps. It wouldn't be so bad for me."

She glared at him. "Oh, yeah? Well, it'd be pretty infuriating to me, but you don't care about that, do you? Maybe you should, though, since you've known me my whole life, and you're first-class and good-looking and you've had my heart before, right?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Look, I was just mad," he said quickly.

"Just leave," she said angrily. "None of us want you here!"

"Is that really true?" he asked, walking slowly towards her.

Her silver eyes gleaming furiously, she hurled a huge blazebolt at him that knocked him through the still-opened door, through the brick wall of the lower-level castle room surrounding the dungeon, and a few miles backwards. Into the dust (he was long out of sight), she whispered, "It's completely true." Then she collapsed.

* * *

It was just at sunset, and Lana felt the urge to let her hair down and sit in the pleasant breeze. She walked up the tower's stairs, through the ceiling, and onto the roof. She gazed peacefully at the setting sun, her blonde hair blowing softly behind her from the wind. Her Tamaranian clothing was gone, as were her sluttish clothes. Instead she was wearing a comfortable sweatshirt and warm-up pants, with fast-running sneakers laced onto her feet. She felt almost perfectly content – everything about her life was perfect, but… well, she couldn't help but feel a distraction, like something was missing.

Her father had agreed to leave her peacefully on Earth without contact, and her mother even visited her occasionally. She felt like she should be perfectly content at that moment, her silver eyes glistening in the dull sunlight and her mind concentrating on nothing but the moment at hand. Everything had worked out for her in the end; she was fine. So why couldn't she stop feeling an empty spot somewhere inside of her?

Just when the sun was gone and all there was was a little color above the horizon, she felt a gentle tap on her back. She turned around, a little upset that her moment was gone but still glad to have company, and looked her new onlooker in the eye.

"Cyborg," she said in disbelief. "You're… here."

Memories came flooding back to her just as the moon came into view, bringing a new fear to her life. Rhustin and Cyborg had left her, left every part of her world, and promised not to ever come back. After a year of longing for them, she had realized that she could find happiness without them, and she did just that. After two years, it was almost like they had never existed, and after three, as far as she knew, they really hadn't existed.

But now that he was looking at her, his tall body and his caring eyes – even his mechanic eye seemed soft and reassuring – she remembered all the things that had happened before she had forgotten about him. Memories of Rhustin being cruel and sly came back to her, and memories of Cyborg being brave and leaving his entire world behind just so she could be happy. Now that she was looking at him, she felt guilty about him leaving all those years ago. She was nearly twenty-five now; she had spent three years forgetting him and six years regaining her happiness. Now she felt guilty that she had ever been happy.

"Yeah," he said softly, "I am." Then he paused, and looked at her with no expression in his face. "I mean, I can leave, if you want me to."

She couldn't believe all he was doing for her after she had been such a bad person to him, letting him leave without even saying good-bye. "No, please don't go," she said softly. "I can't – I mean, I didn't…" She trailed off, then found herself thinking straight again once she looked straight into his eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I haven't been waiting nine years for an apology," he said softly, touching her face with his smooth, metal fingers. Even though they were mechanical, she could still feel the warmth in them, and it comforted her. "I've been waiting nine years for this," he said even more softly. He leaned in, she leaned in, and their lips joined. It was the most magical night of her entire life. She spent the whole night like that, sitting next to him, basking in the moonlight with him. It was now, she realized, that she was truly happy. The hollow spot was filled; the emptiness gone.

* * *

When Blazefire awoke, she found herself in a stretcher, being rolled out of the prison. She stared at her two sisters through the open door, and they looked sadly back at her. "Where are they taking me?" she mouthed to her sisters, for she had a certain robot that she wanted to speak to immediately – however, she couldn't find the strength to fight.

Starfire looked pathetically at her sister and mouthed back one word: "Away."

* * *

"Lana!" Cyborg shouted over all the commotion of the castle guards. He rushed over to the ones around her stretcher with the rest of the team and started to blast them away. Robin used some of his gadgets to undo her ties to the stretcher, then Melanie and Raven rushed over to her and helped her out. Beastboy, Robin, and Cyborg then fought the never-ending stream of guards as Raven tried to heal Blazefire and Melanie tried to give her as much life as her still-not-full-fledged powers allowed.

Blazefire's eyes slowly turned to Cyborg, who was fighting everyone but dying to turn around and see if she was okay.

"Blaze," Raven said sharply, "don't look at him if it won't make you happy. You can't be stressed right now, just concentrate on something besides Cyborg." She obviously knew about the strange relationship between the two.

Blazefire grabbed Melanie's hand and focused on nothing but getting as much power as imaginable. She did get full health back, and though Melanie was looking a little pale, she got up, raced in front of her teammates, and closed her eyes. Then she did the exact same thing she had done on the first day she met them: she created a huge blazesphere and hit everything in front of her without taking up much of her own strength. Then she turned to Cyborg and whispered, "You. Come with me."

As she flew up the bottom-floor stairs and the next ones, next, next, until finally she reached the top floor, Cyborg followed her loyally. Once they reached the top floor, they saw her father, who had a smirk on his face.

"I'm so not in the mood," she said simply to her father. With that, she cast a blazebubble around him, trapping him inside for the moment, burst through the front doors and into the sunlight, and ran far away.

Cyborg followed unsurely. He couldn't help but think there was something different about her. She didn't look happy or headstrong, but she looked determined and much wiser than she usually appeared to be.

"There's something I need to talk to you about," she explained to him once they got far enough away. In fact, she was worried that she'd have gone so far that she'd have bumped into Rhustin.

He looked at her in surprise. "I guess it's kind of private," he joked.

She gave an uneasy laugh. "Listen, I had a dream when I got knocked out. I don't really know how long I was knocked out, but it was a pretty long dream."

"You had a dream," he repeated confusedly. "Okay."

"It had you in it," she explained, then paused, frowning. "Well, I guess it had all of us in it – the team, my parents, Rhustin, the Tower…"

Cyborg winced at Rhustin, but let her continue.

"But I guess you were the main part of it. It's just that…" She shrugged. "It took place in the future. You, Rhustin, and my dad had all left. I was glad you were all gone, but it had been nine years, and I was still missing someone. Well, when you three left I was mad at all of you, so I didn't think it could be any of you." Her face looked nervous, and her eyes were starting to get watery, but her voice stayed strong. "But one day I was watching the sun set, and you came, and it all came back to me, and…" She looked down, her voice shifting slightly.

"And what?" Cyborg asked in disbelief. Was it possible that she actually loved him?

"And I realized that you were the one I had been missing."

This wasn't an outright "I love you," but he didn't care. He smiled down at her. "Oh, yeah?" he asked with a grin. "Well, I'm not going to leave you, so don't you worry about that."

She smiled up at him. He leaned down to kiss her, she stood on her toes and started to wrap her arms around his neck…

* * *

"What's going on?" Robin demanded angrily to no one in particular. Without warning, Cyborg had followed Rhustin into the lowest level of the castle, then through the dungeon doors. Before they knew it, Rhustin had been knocked miles back through the brick wall of the castle, and Cyborg and Blazefire had taken off.

"Blazefire and Cyborg are probably either ending their whole relationship or starting a whole new one," Raven said with a shake of her head.

"Wow, Raven, funny how you did the exact same things!" Beastboy said in a mocking, hurtful voice.

She rolled her eyes. "You're the one who ended us, and I did not start_ anything _with Slade," she spat.

"Break it up, you two," Melanie said, rolling her eyes. "Listen, I say we should go check on Star and Blackfire, then we can find the love triangle."

They all nodded – Robin, Red X, Raven, and Beastboy – and went into the building.

It was coated like icing with Tamaranian guards.

"Once those guys died, Star's dad must have heard," Melanie said uneasily. "I say we run. There's no way we're getting into that jailhouse."

"Let's resort to Plan B," Robin suggested. "Starfire and Blackfire are in there for good, at least for now. Let's go find the others."

"It's not like you'll get the death penalty for getting funny for once and calling them The Love Triangle," Melanie said teasingly.

Robin sort of glared at her, then turned around to face the others. "Let's go," he said, and they all left.

* * *

"Not so fast, Robot Boy," Rhustin said as he threw a warning dagger very close to Cyborg's head.

Cyborg immediately moved apart from Blazefire to scold Rhustin. Before he could even begin to use his colorful words to Rhustin, Blazefire stepped in front of Cyborg and said, "Just give up, Rhustin. Go find some bad girl you can stalk, okay?"

Rhustin was about to say something when the Titans ran over to them.

"Until we meet again," Rhustin said with a tip of his crown to Blazefire. Then he whistled, and his spacecraft came up to him. He hopped gracefully into it and flew away. As he did this, he said to Blazefire, "I don't give up easily."

"Is he a bad guy or a stalker?" Melanie asked with a shake of her head.

"Bad guy," Cyborg responded, while at the same time Blazefire replied, "Both."

"Cyborg, just because he wants Blazefire doesn't mean he's a bad guy. And we don't have time to go chasing after stalkers when Slade, Philip, and Stonefire are all on the loose."

"They might get him to join them in my place," X commented.

"They won't," Blazefire said quickly. "He's worthless when it comes to fighting. I mean, he's great with the sword, but no match for us."

"So…" Robin shrugged. "Back to the castle?"

"We won't survive a moment in there," Cyborg said.

"We've got to do it," Melanie said simply. "For my homegirls," she joked.

"For my sissies," Blazefire laughed.

"For our friends," Raven said seriously, turning back to the castle.

* * *

It had been nearly an hour, and while the Titans were weakening, the loads of soldiers on Stonefire's side were still holding up. It was looking bad.

"Surrender the girl," the head general of Stonefire's soldiers ordered to Robin, "and we will let the rest of you leave undamaged."

"Nice try," Cyborg said sharply.

Blazefire, however, was losing her strength again, and she could feel herself as well as the others weakening. "I will go," she said solemnly, stepping up toward the general after grabbing Melanie's hand for a little more life.

"Very well. You all may leave." He turned to Blazefire. "You," he said with a nasty grin, "are following me."

"Where am I going?" she asked. "The prison's that way," she added, pointing to the castle dungeons.

"You were a bad girl," the general said with a smirk. "Now you're going to the bad prison. Away from everyone else."

"Lana!" Cyborg gasped as the guards 'escorted' him away from the castle, but she made no response. Instead she gave him a small smile and followed them bravely into the huge royal Tamaranian prison, where she would stay. Alone.

* * *

"I can't believe this," Melanie said in disbelief. "I mean, as sweet as that was of her, I cannot believe this happened."

"Fathers are a thing of evil," Raven said darkly. "She must be helped by a different route."

Beastboy rolled his eyes. "You want to tell us the plan, or not?"

"We shouldn't strike so obviously – the normal 'Oh, she's in a prison over there, let's go save her' thing. Instead we should fight in back routes. I'm thinking of helping our friends and also triggering a revolution at the same time. If I can just think of a plan that maybe the Founding Fathers or FDR made in war…"

"How about Lincoln?" Robin suggested. "The Anaconda Plan. We should strike from all directions at important things."

Cyborg nodded. "We should find some of their strongest points – leaders and important cities and castles – and take those down first. Then they might surrender Blazefire. We can deal with the actual revolution later."

"That sounds good," Raven said, "but you both know that the Anaconda Plan was part of the Civil War and not the American Revolution, right?" she asked, laughing.

"Yeah, of course," they both lied quickly.

Melanie, Red X, Beastboy, and Raven all laughed mockingly, then sat down to think with the others who, needless to say, were glaring at them.

"Obviously, Stonefire needs to be dealt with," Melanie said as they sat down, so she wrote his name down on a sheet of paper.

"Yeah," Cyborg said, "but he's the hardest. We should put his name down last."

Melanie nodded. Then, beside "Stonefire," she scribbled down the words "dealt with last." She smiled at her neatness.

"We should have brought a laptop," Raven said, rolling her eyes.

"I can write fast enough!" Melanie snapped.

"I think she meant so this could be a little more organized," Robin said with a stifled laugh. "But don't worry about it. What, where, or who else should we worry about now?"

"The castle that Blackfire and Starfire are in," Beastboy suggested.

"That should be right before Stonefire," Cyborg said. "We kill everyone in his castle, then we deal with him."

Beside all of Stonefire's data, Melanie wrote, "Tamaran's Capital Castle – right before Stonefire."

"There's the place Blaze is in," Melanie suggested. "Should I write that down for last?"

"No, it's like we're writing a backwards list," Raven said. "We should save Blazefire right before we destroy the castle. Then she can help us destroy it."

Melanie nodded, then wrote that down as well – "Place that Blaze is in. Just before Tamaran's Capital Castle."

"Let's decide what we should do first," Robin suggested.

Red X finally had an idea after learning how to fit in with the Titans. "I know," he said. "Let's try writing the list first to last. First we should try to blockade all their major cities – you know, stop them from getting any supplies."

"Yeah, we could lay 'siege' to them, like they did in Lord of the Rings!" Beastboy said excitedly. "Then they'd just die!"

"There are six of us – me, Robin, Melanie, Red X, Raven, and Beastboy," Cyborg said as Melanie was taking notes and a furious speed. "Let's lay siege to six cities."

"Assignments?" Melanie asked.

"Out of us," Robin said, "I honestly believe that Red X is the most powerful." Red X beamed. "He should blockade the capital city."

Melanie nodded and smiled at her friend's wisdom, then wrote this down.

"Raven is also very powerful. I'd suggest she be in charge of their sister city, where Blazefire was raised," Robin said. "It's just east of here. I don't know what it's called, but…"

Melanie was already scribbling, "City due east of TCC."

"I'll take their mother's home city," Cyborg said. "It's probably important."

"It's called Jarganan," Robin said. "Starfire told me," he explained.

The rest of the cities were assigned, and they all said their good-byes and split up for the siege of Tamaran and what would hopefully become a revolution.

And Blazefire? Well, at least she knew that she and Cyborg were together, even while they were apart.

**Me:**

Okay, before anything else, I found out how to use lines, and I kind of got carried away, sorry about that. They're so cool, though! I mean lines as in those page breaks. Now, back to my stuff.

Finally, I am done writing this! After writer's block, groundings, starting over, illnesses, and more writer's block, and also over a month of waiting, I am finally done with chapter fourteen! I promise I'll have chapter fifteen up within ten days of now! If I break this promise, I want you all to flame me!

Actually, if you want to flame me now, I completely deserve it.

But I don't and never will again make you wait this long!

I'm so, so sorry! I'm also sorry that this was kind of shorter than usual!

Really, I am!

Okay, on with the responses.

**Pookey: **I know, I tell my friends I love them all the time, so don't worry about it. I love you too, in a friendly way! Sorry I didn't use Green Day, but it didn't really fit the chapter. And after the next chapter, which isn't much more CyLana fluff but more siege stuff (still fluff, though, not all battle) is the ROBIN AND STARFIRE CHAPTER! YAY!

**Solodancer789: **You are a cruel and evil being. Still, watch this. I OWN TEEN TITANS! Here come the lawyers. HEY, LAWYERS, I DON'T REALLY OWN THEM, BUT NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE, SOLODANCER789 STOLE THE GRAMMY! NOT ME! AND MAKE THE MOB GO AWAY! Yay, the mob is gone, and the lawyers are back:) thanks for reviewing.

**Warprince2000: **It is so, so, so fun to talk to you when you're not just saying the usual stuff! Anyway, I think it's a really good idea, and it could definitely be possible. I mean, the whole thing about him being the joker in the group as a cover-up is really well thought-out, and the 'why does he cover up his hands' thing is even more funny, and really right at the same time!

**TeEn TitAn 14: **I would if I could, but I can't. Still, tell me how you liked this chapter, because Cyborg and Lana are important, too! And I love praise, and you're the best praise-giver that I know, so thank you so much! You're so sweet! No, Robin just said that because he didn't trust X. X will earn their trust and become – well, I'm not going to say anything else, but the guy wouldn't die, I'm not that harsh. Rob/Star all the way is right, and X won't like Star by the end – he'll like someone else! I'm shutting up now.

**Savi: **I know! I guess the show's more popular than I thought, and I'm glad! Oh, and applause for your jig… okay. You're right about Green Day and that song, I wish I could have used it, but it didn't fit right. Thank you SO MUCH for your idea, and I'm sorry I made you wait so long! And now that this is done, I'll try to read the next chapter of your story!

**Critic: **You're right, but I had to give the dedication to someone else, sorry! All your other ones were right too, and thanks a bunch, but how do you like my story? You never mentioned it, so I just wanted to know. Thanks!

**Mr. Rogers: **Um, okay… did you like it, or not? I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but you kind of… didn't say anything that meant anything here. Still, thanks!

**Meangenius: **I know I'm cool – hello, you're my sister. You, of all people, know that I'm cool. Heehee, just kidding! Well, even though I AM cool. But… well, next topic. Star was mad, you know? MAD. I don't blame her at all. It's hard for her to be nice so much, I bet. I think I'd blow after that, too, even if I was Star. Thanks for reviewing, sorry for the wait!

I love you all so much! Thanks for waiting!

Lovin' Writin',

The Kweenmeister3000 nn


	15. A Mystery Uncovered

I changed the title of this chapter from what I said it would be. Romancing the War just wasn't really working, you know? And since there's a mystery uncovered in this chapter, I figured that was what I should call it. Anyway, this chapter is kind of Nancy-Drew-ish (okay, not really, but it's mystery-like) and I worked really hard on it, so that's why it took longer than I expected. I'm sorry!

Just so you know, I'm taking a long time on this because the chapters are so long and everything, so **_I won't be able to read or review peoples' stories for a while. But once I'm done with this or at least on a break, I'll finish R&Ring everyone's stories and become faithful again! _**Well, this chapter is about when they all split up into their sieges or whatever, and they have a lot of bored-ness time to talk to each other on their communicators, so new relationships are formed and old ones are rekindled.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to both **jjangel9235232 **and **D-I-WaRrIa**. It's for JJ because she asked for a dedication, and after reviewing every chapter and thinking I think she's using me (no worries, I don't think that), she deserves it! And to D-I-WaRrIa because I want her to know I'm not mad at her or anything, I'm just glad she's reviewing.

Disclaimer: I woke up this morning to find an interesting object under my pillow, and it happened to be a Grammy. I was so excited that I had it that I got on television with a morning talk show and said how honored I was! But then the lawyers came, and said I stole it. I didn't steal it, so I gave it to them and said it must have been solodancer. So they let me off the hook for now, and they said they'd have a talk with solodancer. But now that the lawyers have me on their bad side, I will go ahead and say I do not own:

**Teen Titans**

**Gilmore Girls**

**Grammy Music Awards**

**My Pillow**

**Television**

**Solodancer**

**The Heaven**

**My Sister**

**Cartoon Network**

**Rainbow**

**Body Shop**

**Gap**

**Old Navy**

**Star Wars**

**Lord of the Rings**

**Harry Potter**

I know, pathetic. I don't even own my own pillow – my mom bought it for me. The list could go on a lot longer, but I'm not up for it, and I don't think you are, either. But solodancer, the lawyers want to "talk" with you!

Chapter Fifteen: A Mystery Uncovered

**Jarganan/Lana's Prison:**

Cyborg stared exhaustedly at the setting sun. The only comfort he found in the sky was that somewhere out there, Lana was looking at that same sky, probably missing him just as much as he was missing her.

Just as he was sitting there wishing he could talk to her, his communicator buzzed, to his disbelief. He had completely forgotten that he even had one!

"Hey," said a quiet voice as he opened it up. Her eyes were a little red and puffy, and her cheeks were slightly glistening, but Blazefire's eyes had a beautiful shine to them as she looked at him.

"Hey," he said, but not in an uneasy way. He tried not to pity her, because he knew that she didn't want to be pitied, but it was hard not to feel sorry for her when she was in the prison of where she grew up in. And the prison at the Princess's Palace was nothing like the one at Tamaran's Capital Castle. Neither were great, but since the PP was cheaper and less used than TCC, the dungeons were smaller, wetter, colder, darker, and more frightening.

"I was thinking about that dream," she said, looking at him with fondness written all over her face.

"I really like that dream," he said, grinning.

"Anyway, the sunset was just like it is today. I mean, I wasn't in prison with a tiny little window to see it from, but I did get a déjà vu effect."

"Too bad I'm not over there," he said wistfully.

"Well, that would kind of suck, but it's too bad I'm not over there," she said with another grin.

They both laughed, and just as they started having one of their first civil conversations – and their first ever conversation as a pair – Robin got on.

"How's it going over there?" Robin asked Cyborg.

"Well, they haven't even tried to send any supplies or food over here yet, so pretty much a breeze," Cyborg replied simply.

"What're you talking about?" Blazefire asked in surprise.

"We're doing this siege thing," Robin explained, "to try to stunt a revolution. I figure that when the revolution starts, they'll free you very soon. They won't want to have to deal with you when there are more important things going on."

"Oh," Blazefire said with a nod. "Well, that's good. Do you really think it'll work?"

Robin nodded. "If our plan works out the way it should – without flaws, that is – then it should go perfectly."

Blazefire sighed once he said that. She knew these words were meant to be reassuring, but she knew better. He had said that it would work without flaws. But this was life. Flaws were guaranteed.

"I've got to go," she said. "I'm really tired." Then she closed her communicator and laid down on the floor. Her cot was squeaky and cold, and she preferred the floor to it. Besides, there were guards surrounding her dungeon, and a squeak would make them think she was trying to escape.

Staring at the metal ceiling, she thought about the rest of her life. Would it be in this prison cell? She didn't want it to be, but when she thought about the odds of her actually getting out of here, she doubted anything better would be in store for her.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

"Robin," Blackfire said, looking at her sister with fondness in her eyes. "He's the man for you. Why don't you just admit it?"

"Robin is nothing like me," Starfire replied sadly. "He is headstrong and very difficult when he wants to complete a task or mission. I am easygoing and always polite, and I would never push someone away, even if I was dealing with a terrible criminal. I enjoy being in the presence of other people, and he would not care if he was the only man on Earth."

"He would commit suicide if you weren't there with him," Blackfire said honestly.

Starfire sighed. "I do have feelings for Robin," she admitted. "But even then, I honestly do not wish to be in a relationship with him. He is not always a good person, and when the good seeps out of him, he is rude and impolite."

Blackfire laughed. "You're giving up love because of rudeness?"

"He does not know how to treat me," Starfire explained.

"He can learn," Blackfire reminded her.

"He has had plenty of time to learn," Starfire said. "He still has never truthfully apologized for any of the things he did wrong."

"He obviously loves you. If you told him what he needed to do to become a good person all the time, he'd try as hard as humanly possible to please you. Besides, he gave up being the Titans Leader for you. That means something."

Starfire sighed. "I do not want to tell him to apologize to me. He should do that on his own. And when he does, that is when I shall forgive him."

**Alphan:**

Melanie sighed as she looked at the city that she had been assigned. Once everyone else had gotten cities, she had gotten the only important city left: Alphan, the agriculture city. It was important because it had farms and such, but no one was there to farm their farms.

Sighing at her misfortune, she opened up her communicator and called everyone at once with the ALL button.

"Guys," she said with a sigh. "This is pointless. I mean, it really is. There is no one in this city. There's tons of farms and crops, but no people to farm them."

"That's strange," Robin said. "This city's crops are extremely important to Tamaran. No sane group of people would just up and leave."

"Unless…" Blazefire said, obviously thinking hard.

Starfire gasped. "Unless someone else had a revolution idea, as well!"

"But who would start one and not finish them, leaving no trace of a hint behind?" Cyborg asked. "I mean, I'm assuming they didn't succeed."

"Well, they succeeded in making this Alphan bust," Beastboy said with a grin.

"But they didn't do anything to any of the other cities," Blackfire added.

"So someone must have stopped them first," Melanie said in disbelief. "They must have left some kind of clue behind, in case someone wanted to finish their work."

"Are there any other major prisons in Tamaran, Starfire?" Raven asked.

Before Starfire could reply, Red X chimed in. "Well, what about Blazefire's prison? They said she had to go to the bad prison, where the truly terrible criminals go. Maybe they put the rebels in the same jail."

"But I would have seen them," Blazefire said. "Besides, it's not a big place. I'm pretty sure I'm in the only room here."

"But it's worth a try to check," Red X said.

"Blazefire, try blasting through the walls. There will be protective shields around the outer walls, but one of the walls will lead to another cell if there really is one. That won't be protected," Raven said.

"I could try, but I'm not really up to it. Are we in a huge rush?" Blazefire asked.

"Kind of, if you want to be freed any time soon," Beastboy said.

"Melanie, do you think you could pass some strength to her through our communicators?" Cyborg asked hopefully.

"You're crazy," Melanie said. "There's no way."

"Then come here," Cyborg said. "Come here to Jarganan – I'll be able to mess with the electric waves and send something to her."

"I don't know where Jarganan is," Melanie said.

"Go west," Cyborg said. "Just walk straight west, and you'll find me. I'm pretty sure that's where Alphan is."

"Well, once she does that, where will she go? There's no point in her going back to Alphan," Raven said.

"Why doesn't she find Blazefire?" Red X suggested. "I mean, she won't lose energy – she's an energy machine. And she can't die, she'll just keep reviving herself. She won't give up with that kind of stuff."

"We have no idea where Blazefire is," Beastboy said. "That's stupid."

"She can search. It's on this planet, and Tamaran isn't even a fiftieth of the size of Earth," Red X explained.

"So she should find Blazefire in a little more than a month," Beastboy said. "I mean, that movie was called _Around the World in Eighty Days_, so if we're half of Earth, that's about forty days, a little more than a month."

"Impressive," Cyborg teased.

"Melanie," Robin instructed. "Make sure you get plenty of food from Alphan before you leave for Jarganan, okay?"

"It's food," Blazefire teased. "She'll remember."

"Yeah, but something tells me we're not going to have pizza or popcorn over here in this beautiful Alphan."

They all laughed, then hung up. Things were going fairly well, yet moments between Starfire and Robin – and especially Raven and Beastboy – were still quite uncomfortable. Still, they all held up, and Blazefire was looking forward to her burst of energy soon to come.

**Jarganan:**

It had been about forty-five minutes, and Melanie (loaded with cases and cases of food from Alphan) was finally in Jarganan. By the time she reached Cyborg – another fifteen minutes or so – she had nearly fainted from carrying and rolling and heaving and pushing all her food around.

"Need a little help with that?" Cyborg asked with a grin.

"You're just lucky I'm a life machine, or I'd be dead already," Melanie replied.

"Well, I can probably whip up something that can store that food in, but first we should send the energy to Blazefire."

"What should I do while I wait for you to be done?"

Cyborg grinned. "Count to ten," he suggested. She did so in confusion, then once she got to ten, he said with a grin, "Done."

"Whoa," Melanie said in surprise. "How the…"

"It's easy, actually," Cyborg said with a smirking smile. "I just challenged the air wave frequency, then made each wavelength's speed slow down, causing the frequency to lessen and let more things travel through it. If you touch it, your powers should be sent to her in about the time of an e-mail."

"Um," she said in disbelief. "Okay. Wow." Then she touched his communicator's screen and sent a huge blast of energy through it."

"Expect a big _pow _in a few minutes," Cyborg told Blazefire with a grin.

Blazefire laughed. "Thanks, guys," she said with a grin.

"Oh, my God!" Melanie said excitedly. "We're going to solve this mystery, win a new revolution, get Blaze out of jail, get Star and Black out of jail, get Star and Rob to make up, get BB and Rae to make up, kill Slade, kill Stonefire, kill Philip, and make sure no one else fights or anything. We're on a roll!"

Blazefire snorted. "Should I grab a pen and write this down?" she asked sarcastically.

Melanie glared at her. "Not funny. And besides, even if we were writing it down, that would be _my _job!"

They all laughed, then the energy reached Blazefire. Her eyes flashed a metallic silver even over the pupil, then relaxed. "Let's kick some mystery ass," she suggested with a grin.

"Can you get any more cheesy?" Melanie asked with a snort.

"Okay, okay," Blazefire said. "Then… to infinity and beyond!"

"Just go," Melanie said, rolling her eyes.

**Lana's Prison:**

Lana sighed. She knew that if she blasted the wrong wall, the guards surrounding her prison would take action. So she went to the corner of the first wall and slowly blazed a small hole through it. Sure enough, she saw a guard who would probably see the hole any minute now and kill her. She took the shattered wall parts and stuck them back inside the hole, then went on to try the second, third, and then fourth walls. She found nothing.

She sat down, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn't want to give up just yet, but she didn't know what else to do. So she beeped Cyborg's communicator.

"Hey," he said with a grin. "Did you find anything?"

"No," she said with a shrug. "All the holes I made just lead to the outside, and I had to fill them back in before the guards caught me."

"Maybe one of the holes is an illusion," Melanie suggested. "I mean, maybe it looks like the outside, but if you went there, it wouldn't be."

"That's great," Blazefire said sarcastically. "So the only way I'll be able to know is if I get caught."

"Or we could make a plan," Cyborg said.

"This sounds interesting," Melanie said excitedly, getting on her own communicator instead of Cyborg's. "Let's get everyone."

Blazefire pushed _All_, and everyone picked up.

"Did you find anyone?" Robin asked Blazefire.

She shook her head. "No, but Melanie thinks it might be some kind of illusion, and I think she might be right. We need a really good plan on how I can either escape or find this place. Whichever is easier."

"And once you think of that, please help us with an escape plan, too," Blackfire said.

"We're just doing this because Blazefire is more of a necessity. We'll get around to you two when the time comes," Red X said simply. "Not now."

"And you think we're useless to the team, or something? That we don't matter?" Blackfire demanded fiercely.

"Uh, right now, pretty much," Red X said with a smirk.

"Would you feel the same way if you were here, and you knew your powers were great, and you wanted to be out there helping?"

"When there's a serious mystery and if I was just a waste of time and barely an asset, then yes!" Red X fired back.

"Oh, sure. Because the guy who threatened the Titans' lives so many times has such a great idea of what's good and evil!" she taunted.

"I'm not the only one who's threatened the Titan's lives! I'm surprised you're not out there with your daddy right this second!"

"SHUT UP!" Starfire said, surprising them all. Then she laughed. "You two do not even know each other, and yet you are fighting so incessantly! Please, let us focus on the important things! We shall be out of this prison in no time, Blackfire," Starfire said. Then she said to Red X, "And what is in the past is in the past. You have both chosen to be evil, and now you both have chosen to be good. We are thankful. But please hush."

While the others were still getting over her saying "shut up," Robin was marveling at how wise she was being. His heart was speeding up just hearing her voice, let alone hearing her say something so wise and sage.

"Starfire's right," he said uneasily. "We need to focus on the illusion thing, and the escape – or at least find out what's going on – plan for Blazefire."

"We've got to go," Blackfire said suddenly. "But we'll be right back." Then she hung up her communicator, and Starfire (in confusion) did the same.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

"Oh my God," Blackfire breathed. "Starfire, help me!"

"You are… ill? Might you perhaps have the turkey pox? Please, Sister, tell me what is the matter!" Starfire said frantically.

"No, I'm not sick! I just fought with him! He so hates me now!"

"Might you be speaking of the Red X, Sister?"

"Duh!" Blackfire said, just as frantically. "He's so cute and so my type, and then I had to go and yell at him! I'm insane! No, I'm more than insane, I'm…"

"You have feelings for Red X?" Starfire asked in disbelief.

"Um, let me think about that for a second," Blackfire said sarcastically. "Yeah! He's hot, and he used to be evil, but now he's good – just like me. And he totally cares about all of us now – just like me – and he's really smart – just like me!"

"Very well, perhaps soon you shall work things out and perhaps even form a relationship. But as of now they need us!"

Blackfire sighed. "Fine," she said, and opened up her communicator.

LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAK

"We need a really good plan," Robin said.

"We should put all of our powers together to form something wondrous that can help us find Blazefire, see where the guards are, find out if there is an extra room, and communicate with the people in that extra room!"

"A chance to write down some more plans," Melanie said with a grin. She took out the same paper and pen that she had previously used. "Cool."

"I'm the only one who can sneak in there and talk to them," Beastboy said. "I can be a beetle or something, and sneak in through a crack or a window."

"Yeah, but first, we need to find out where she is, and I think there might be a better idea than Melanie searching for over a month," Cyborg said.

"Well, how about Raven?" Robin suggested. "Raven, can't you send out one of your huge black birds like you did for me that can search everywhere until it finds something?"

"I can," she said, "but once it finds it, it wouldn't be able to tell me where. I mean, it would send a mental picture through my head, but it won't memorize directions or anything like that."

"Then Melanie can follow it around," Red X said. "It'll do the high-tech searching, but she'll follow it to map out directions, and it shouldn't take half as long."

"Good idea," Melanie agreed. "It'll be fun to follow a big black raven around all day long, especially a version of Raven that doesn't have any monotonous comments to make to me." She sighed. "It'll probably get boring, though."

"Is there anything I can do?" Blazefire asked. "I mean, I feel kind of stupid, how I'm right next to this mysterious place but you have to make Melanie and BB do all the real work."

"Don't feel stupid," Cyborg said. "Letting you wing it and try to escape is way more dangerous than sending Melanie and the Raven and BB out."

"Can I have a new nickname, guys?" Beastboy asked hopefully. "I mean, _girls _are nicknamed BB. Not guys. How about… I don't know, the B-Man? Or maybe… ooh, is this better? Double B? Or maybe… hey, remember, Rae? Beastman?"

Raven choked on her own spit. She had completely forgotten about that. They had actually liked each other a lot before they started going out. How could she have forgotten? Still, to cover up her own surprise, she said in a careless voice, "Yeah, I remember. I thought you were mad at me?" Still, after remembering that, she now remembered why she had ever liked Beastboy – he was sweet, funny, caring, and loyal.

At least, she thought he had been loyal. Obviously she had been wrong.

"Okay," Robin said, ignoring Beastboy and Raven, who were now getting into another talk about Raven's mysterious "affair" with Slade. "So Raven will send out one of those birds, and Melanie will follow it while she makes a map. Then she'll come back to give it to BB-"

"That would take too much time," Cyborg interrupted. "All she has do is use this little thing I made that slows down waves. If it can transfer her power, it can transfer a little map from here to BB."

"Not BB," Beastboy said, coming out of his fight with Raven for the moment. "B-Man. Or Double B. Or Beastman. But not BB." Then he went back to fighting with Raven.

"Okay," Blackfire said with raised eyebrows. "Back to the whole solving-the-mystery thing," she added.

"So then Melanie uses Cyborg's wave thing to give BB-"

"Beastman!"

"-the map. Then _he _follows it to the prison, pretends to be a bug-"

"He doesn't have to do much pretending in that department," Raven teased, but when Robin's eyes behind his mask turned very narrow, she shut up.

"Anyway, he pretends to be a bug, sneaks inside, and sees who they are, or if there's anything. And he can bring some decent food to Blazefire. But before he talks to them or anything, he has to report back here. You clear on that, Beast…person?"

"Yup. Find them, see who they are, make sure Blaze has enough food, report back to you guys. I got it."

"Good," Robin said. "Then we'll form a plan from there. Meanwhile, Melanie's city is barren, so she can leave it. But Melanie, as soon as you get that map transported to… _him_, you have to run back here to fill in for his city, because it is important."

"Somehow I feel like this siege thing isn't very helpful," Raven said. "No one's even tried to deliver food yet."

"Just wait until sundown," Red X said wisely. "They'll be bringing all the food for next week at sundown. You better be ready."

Then Raven sent her raven for Melanie, who was waiting in Jarganan (with Cyborg's wave changer in his hand) for it.

**Sundown In Lana's Home City:**

Raven sighed as she looked at the sun. There were only a few cracks of light left, and she expected a battle very shortly. But she was tired and exhausted from her fight with Beastboy, and besides that, she was very sad. In all, she was, as Starfire would say, "lobstery," and no one wanted to mess with Raven in a lobstery mood.

Sure enough, they came in about five minutes, luckily all in the same part of the city. She could see, smell, and hear them from a few miles away, so she easily flew towards them. Once they could see her, she said with a bored voice, "You might want to turn and leave now, before I make sure your lives are cut off."

"We're just doing work for the king, Miss," one of the brave food carriers explained. "Please don't take our lives for being loyal."

Raven sighed. She couldn't just kill them like that when they were good people. "Your king is a bad person," she said. "He locked all three of his daughters in jail and doesn't listen to anything his wife tells him. Besides that, he is bad for you and your people. Please just take the food away. If you really want to live happily, then I suggest either going back to Earth or helping us with this revolution."

"There isn't going to be a revolution, Miss, and I can't turn around. You must not know the king. He'll make sure there isn't a revolution, yes he will. He's made sure of it before, and he'll do it again, if that's what it takes."

"What do you mean, before?" Raven asked.

"Well, I speak of Juanand'es and Juanit'es, of course," he said in surprise. "Everyone in Tamaran has heard of them besides probably the Queen and the Princesses. They were shielded from such things, I am sure. But many a year ago, Juana and Juanit were sick and tired of the king's obsessive participation in war and other cruelties. They got together a huge army and spread the word all across the country, but they were imprisoned by the king in an instant, and sent to a most foul dungeon. After that, the rebellion ended."

"No one, not even a single general, wanted to stay in the war?"

"They had no choice," he said with a shrug. "Stonefire threatened to kill Juanit and Juana if anyone dared to rebel again. That threat still stands. So, if you understand, we cannot let you stop us."

**Me:**

It's done! Did you like it? My wonderful cliffhangers are up again! And now a little shine of terror is added in! Unless they find Juanit'es and Juanand'es, the revolution can't start, because they can't let those two just die!

So I guess my beautiful plan – you know, the whole "siege" thing – is off. At least, for now. Once they find Juanit'es and Juanand'es, all bets are off!

Now, reviewer responses:

**D-I-WaRrIa**: I just found that out – rated K is like rated G or PG or something, rated T is like PG13, rated M is like R, and rated MA is like NC-17. I think K is for Kids, T is Teens, M is Mature, and MA is Mature Adult. I checked that by clicking the link in the story that says like "Rating T" or whatever, then it takes you to the website. I would have e-mailed you, but I just now figured that out, so what's the point? Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and of course I'm not mad at you! I'll try to read your Easter one-shot soon, and I know, I'm kind of obsessive about these love triangles. But everything's working out now! And the next chapter is my Robin and Starfire chapter!

**Warprince2000: **You're right. If he was (which is a really cool idea, and very well might be right), then he should have told them sooner. Now is too late, so if he did tell them, they'd be mad. Unfortunately, I heard the next season will be focused on Starfire, so we probably won't know then. But maybe sometime we'll realize that you're right! That would be so cool!

**Solodancer: **I sent the lawyers after you again, in case you didn't read the disclaimer. HA! Now let's see who ends up in jail! LOL, and thanks for your reviews. Yeah, that was the same chapter (my mistake!), but here's chapter fifteen AND sixteen as an added bonus! By the way, sixteen is the Robin and Starfire fluff chapter!

**Pookey: **Yes, they are together for good, and Robin and Starfire are in the next chapter! I repeat, ROBIN AND STARFIRE ARE IN CHAPTER SIXTEEN! BB and Raven won't be until chapter eighteen, but I promise chapter eighteen will be very good – I've already started working on it. Because of the mystery, the siege is pretty much off now, but they'll still have it later. Thanks!

**Savi: **I've been really busy, but I'll get on AIM to help you with your story as often as I can, and it's really good, so don't worry! I LOVE CANDY! And they didn't show a new episode this Saturday either, did they? That makes me sad, too. NEXT CHAPTER IS ROBSTAR CHAPTER, AND THE ONE AFTER THE ONE AFTER THAT IS BBRAE! Thanks, and just so you know, that's an awesome name, Savannah.

**TeEn TitAn 14: **I thought it was funny too (thanks!), but Blazefire and Cyborg are officially together now, and FINALLY! Yay! I'm glad you didn't mind the wait, and I was thinking GIRL POWER when she zapped Rhustin, and I loved writing it! That was so sweet, what you said about flames and reviews, and I sure HOPE you like the LanaCy fluff! Next chapter is THE RobStar chapter, how's that? Two after that is BBRae, too, so that should make you happy! Of course you're a loyal reviewer! When I think of the forever loyal ones, you're there! Thanks!

**Jjangel9235232: **Okay, for all those many reviews… I am so tired! But I won't give up. Mizzunderstood is like the best story I have ever read so far! Congratulations! Also congratulations on all those reviews in what, a day? I KNOW! Cyborg does not deserve his car, people! But I don't think it's racist, I think it's just that the RobStar and BBRae pairings are so popular, and there's no one else for Cy. Still, I understand what you mean. Mizzunderstood was so good so far! Glad you were lovin' it! OF COURSE I didn't feel like you used me. I mean, at first I was like, "Okay…" but I know you weren't just reading for telling me to read yours or anything. I'm just glad you like it! Starfire's my favorite character too! I dedicated this chapter to you! I updated! Thanks!

Chapter sixteen should be up too! Thanks, guys!

SocialKweenie


	16. Of Chestnut Locks and Emerald Eyes

**Notice, people! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE REPLACED VERSION OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN, READ THAT NOW! **This is chapter sixteen, and it comes after fifteen! I posted them the same time as an added bonus, a treat for making you wait!

Anyway, not much to talk about, but this chapter is what you've all been waiting for – the one, the only, the **_ROBIN and STARFIRE_** chapter! Actually, it's not the one and only, because this one is where they slowly mend their relationship. They use the next ten chapters (I have my layout down) to build it up again. Still, this isn't just Robin and Starfire. Is has a little more. Two chapters after this, however, is another you've all been waiting for, the **_BEASTBOY and RAVEN_** chapter! Lana and Cy are over (okay, not OVER over, but they won't be fighting anymore, or at least nothing serious), but there will still be fluff. And do not fear, there is still more **_MELANIE and AQUALAD_** coming our way! And, as it starts in this chapter, there will soon (and now) be quite a bit of **_RED X and BLACKFIRE_** fluff, too! So, on to the dedication and disclaimer!

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to...I don't know, my regular loyal reviewers. Solodancer, Savi, TeEn TitAn 14, Pookey, now jjangel9235232 and D-I-WaRrIa, and (of course) warprince2000. SD, Sav, TT14, and Pook (like your new nicknames?) always review (I love you!), and JJ and DIW are getting pretty close! So thanks to everyone, and I hope you like your new nicknames! (LOL.)

Disclaimer: IDOTT. But I heard from a story written by SocialButterfli (it's called In Your Dreams – if you haven't read it, READ it, it's really good) that in the fifth season (which is supposed to be based on Starfire), there MIGHT be a Robin-Starfire kiss. It's been confirmed as a fact and as a rumor, so I'm not sure, but I do know (from SocialButterfli's story, again) that there is going to be a lot more RobStar, because they wanted the boys watching the show to like it first. Now that they do, they want to please the girls!

Chapter Sixteen: Of Chestnut Locks and Emerald Eyes

**Klinitique:**

Robin stared, unaware and uncaring, into the soft fog. The sun was very close to down, and he suspected that a small battle would start shortly for the food supply of the week. But that wasn't what he was thinking about.

He let his eyes trail off into the distance. Just thinking about his eyes made them water up a little, thinking about Starfire and how she was the only person who had ever peered into his eyes knowing that he was both Dick Grayson and Robin. The only other person who ever knew that was Batman – or Slade – and look how that turned out.

"Starfire," he whispered, his voice getting caught in the breeze and quickly fading away. Just the sound of her name was graceful. He missed her so much. He didn't deserve her; or at least, she deserved better. She was right: he had done so many bad things to such an innocent person, and he had never apologized, not even once. And he expected her to just be his soul mate? What had he been thinking?

Still, he didn't want to just _apologize_. First of all, he knew what he would get: "Robin, it is far too late for these apologies, and besides that, I believe the Earth term is 'Sorry doesn't cut it.'" He deserved that, but he didn't want it. It was too late for an apology – if he wanted to win back her love, he either had to do a huge, wondrously nice thing that would win back her heart, or a long, dedicated process of showing her how much he cared.

Something big wouldn't be enough, he reasoned; and yet he feared that if he went through with the long, dedicated process, he would just die of missing her before the end.

Just when he was trying to find a plan, his communicator rang in the Titans' theme song, and, in frustration, he answered it.

"This had better be good," Robin said with gritted teeth.

"It's not good, but it's important," Raven said. "Listen, they just got through with Blazefire's home city, and they're coming to Klinitique next. You have to end this siege. We all do. Melanie and BB should keep up the search – we know for sure now that the two people are in that prison – but the revolution must end now."

"WHAT?" Cyborg shouted. "After all that planning? This better be good!"

"It is, trust me," Blazefire said. She had spoken with Raven just before they pressed ALL to speak to the others. "Get this."

"The people bringing food said that there were two rebels a few decades ago – Juanit'es and Juanand'es – **(that's pronounced wuan-IHT-ehs and wuan-AHND-es, people, but imagine it however you want)** did start a revolution. In fact, they got pretty far, and almost all of Tamaran was in it. But then Stonefire caught Juanit and Juana and put them in Blazefire's prison and threatened to kill them if anyone kept on with the revolution or started a new one. The people had so much faith in them that they gave up."

"So our only hope now is to find and free them," Beastboy said.

"True," Raven said. "But we need to leave our posts immediately. I say meet about three quarters of a mile west of the Tamaran Capital Castle. We _need _– I mean _need _– Starfire and Blackfire's help on this. We don't have Mel, and BB is leaving soon-"

"Beast_man,_ girl, I mean it," Beastboy growled.

"-so we need all the help we can get. Besides, even with everyone – me, Melanie, Red X, Robin, Starfire, Blackfire, Blazefire, Cyborg, and Beastboy – it would be nine of us against the entire world of Tamaran. Those people really love Juanit and Juana – they'd do whatever it takes to keep them alive."

"Wow," Robin said with a smile. "Nine of us."

"Yeah, four more people," Cyborg said with interest. "Maybe you four could join, and we could find another person so we could be the Ten Teen Titans."

"Yeah," Beastboy said excitedly. "Or maybe the Ten Titanic Teens! Or how about the Titanic Teens of Ten? Nah, sounds too much like that dead boat. How about the Ten Teenaged Titans? No, that's too close to what it is now. I like the Ten Titanic Teens. Wait, no, the Teenaged Titanic Ten is really catchy. Still, it's kind of confusing."

Raven sighed, slightly missing his sense of humor. He _was _funny, in a stupid, can't-laugh-at-him way.

"Okay," Robin said. "Three fourths of a mile west of the capital city. "And we're the Teen Titans, and you're Beastboy."

"We need a makeover," Beastboy reminded him.

"Yeah," Cyborg said sarcastically. "Let's be the Teenage Tiny Tilliwinkles and we can wear miniskirts and you can be called Grizzlygirl!"

"Fine," Beastboy said reluctantly. "Teen Titans, Beastboy, so Titans, go!"

There weren't even crickets chirping. **(Read my profile and you'll get it! My profile is to die for funny, people, please read it! Especially the dialogue part!) **

"It only works when the leader says it," Robin explained. "Cyborg?"

"Titans, go!" he said in a confident voice. They all hung up and left – except for Robin, who stayed still for a moment, and Starfire, who had been sharing with Blackfire, who also hadn't hung up.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

"Robin seemed different," Blackfire said suddenly.

"He is the same old glofornag," Starfire said with some disgust, yet a small bit of sadness and loss. She had forgotten, however, that her sister could understand her.

"I knew you still liked him! You said he was a cute, pathetic twit! That means he's annoying, but you still have it bad for the guy! I was born with you, remember, Sister Dearest? I know Tamaranian."

"How can I not 'have it bad' for Robin?" Starfire asked, tears streaming down her beautiful eyes. "I love him!"

Blackfire gasped. "You love him?" she asked in disbelief.

Starfire looked down on the ground. "He is a bad person at times, yes. And he cannot apologize, and he is nowhere near perfect. But neither am I, and all the times we spent together – his prom date with Kitty, his leaving for the quest, our watching the fireworks together, his saving me from your chasers' machines, him saving me from Philip, him telling me he loved me… I miss him. And he is not all bad, and I know he can be changed." Tears were streaming down her orange-tinted cheeks now. "And I love him, and I have always loved him, and that will never change."

"And cut," Blackfire said victoriously into her unclosed communicator to Robin. "Now get to it, Boy Lover." Then, with a smirk toward Starfire, she hung up.

**A Few Miles West of TCC:**

"Where's Robin?" Cyborg demanded. "Man, I'm gonna _get _him!"

"Leave him alone," Raven said in her monotone voice. She had had a short conversation with Robin through his head, and he had a plan that had to start immediately. "He's got more important things."

"MORE IMPORTANT THINGS?" Cyborg demanded, but then he heard her voice in her head: _Just let it be, Cyborg. It has to do with a little star that he misses._

He sighed. "Okay, screw Robin for a sec. In case no one noticed, we're in a serious headlock here, and Stonefire is going to notice soon…"

Raven keeled down, her head bursting with pain. "You guys just ignore me," she said in a strangled voice, then closed her eyes and focused.

**Stonefire. What do you know about him?**

_God, could you NOT do that? And I don't know. Maybe I should be asking you._

**I am getting fed up with him. You hate him, correct?**

_You could say so, considering he locked up his three daughters and is a terrible dictator._

**Would you mind sending Robin a message from me?**

_Um, you're my enemy, remember? Why are you acting like we're friends?_

**You want me on your side, don't you?**

_Well, not really, but I don't want you on our enemy's side, so I guess._

**Then send him this message, and I won't fight you.**

_Are you serious? You just _won't _fight us?_

**I give you my word as… as, well, Slade. That's as much as I can give you.**

_Fine. What do you want me to tell him?_

**A bat is more respected than a rat.**

_Excuse me?_

**You heard me.**

_You want me to tell Robin that a bat is more expected than a rat. Are you serious?_

**I am. Is that too hard a task for you?**

_No. Will he get that?_

**If Robin is half the boy I trained, then yes, he will understand.**

_Should I?_

**You were trained by my pupil. If you were trained by me, the source, then-**

_Nice try, but no._

**I can understand that. Then deliver the message.**

_Fine. Still think we're friends, or something?_

**I can't say I hate you, but I wouldn't think of you as a friend, either.**

_Fine._

**And you, I suppose, hate me?**

_I'm still trying to figure you out, Slade._

**Fine. A bat is more respected than a rat.** His voice left her head.

"What was that?" Beastboy asked with a smirk. "Another conversation with your honey?" he teased.

"It was Slade," Raven told Robin. "He told me to deliver a message to you."

"Do I want to hear it?" Robin asked uncomfortably.

Raven shrugged. "I think he wants to switch sides or something, but I can't really tell by the message. He said… a bat is more respected than a rat."

Immediately, Robin said, "Stonefire is even worse than Slade."

"What?" they all asked at once.

"Slade didn't even mention Stonefire, Robin," Raven said in surprise.

"A bat – as in Batman – is respected. In other words, when he was the hero like Batman, he was respected, and he respected himself. But rats are not respected, obviously. He's saying that with Stonefire as his ally, he's being treated like a rat by everyone here in Tamaran, and he'd rather be Batman than Stonefire's pet rat."

"So he wants to join us," Beastboy said in disbelief.

"It's your decision, Robin," Raven reminded him.

"This could be a setup," Robin said uneasily.

"It's not," Raven said. "I could tell. My telepathy could sense him lying if he was talking in my head."

"Then… if you're sure…"

"I'm not trying to get Slade on our side," Raven said, "but I swear to you that the guy wasn't lying. It freaked me out, but he was honest. I think he hates Stonefire as much as Blazefire does."

"Tell him he'll have to prove himself. Just in case," Robin said. "For now we have too much on our plates to deal with Slade, even if he wants to help.

Raven nodded.

**OW!**

_Now you see what it feels like._

**I had no idea. I apologize. What did Robin say?**

_You have to prove yourself, and even if you do, not yet. We're too busy to deal with you._

**We've got to keep this short – Stonefire's coming.**

_Okay. Do you have a response to his response?_

**Tell him that Stonefire isn't quite killing me just yet.**

_You're not putting that in code?_

**Fine. For fun. Tell him that some rattraps take time before the rat dies.**

_Work on these, Slade. I understand that one._

**I already told you what it meant.**

_I'd know, anyway._

**I doubt it. Listen, I've got to-**

_Right. Look, one last thing._

**Yes?**

_Once you do come to help, I need you to do something for me._

**What's that?**

_Talk to Beastboy. He's… jealous._

**Of me? I'm thrilled. Why is he jealous, though?**

_He thinks that this mind time… means we like each other._

Slade snorted. **I'll make sure to straighten that out with him. But you're… together?**

_Um, yeah, so if you even think about-_

**Starting a relationship with you? Once again, doubtful.**

_If I could trust you, I'd be relieved._

**Good-bye, then.**

"What did he say?"

"Some rattraps take time before the rat dies."

"Oh, well, he's not going to give up," Robin said.

"What does that one mean?" Cyborg asked.

"Stonefire isn't quite killing him just yet," Raven said.

"How'd you know?" Beastboy asked.

"Slade told me."

"Right," Robin said slowly. "Well, she's right. Now, about Starfire and Blackfire. "We really need some ideas."

"I really do think that the best thing we can do here is combine all our powers, blow the whole place up, and tell them to make a starbolt-blackbolt shield," Red X commented.

"How can we combine our powers?" Beastboy asked. "I mean, they're really different."

"There's always a way," Cyborg said with a shrug. "That's what we did last time, when we killed Philip."

"Only to have him come back to life," Beastboy said. "Besides, back then we had Melanie, and she did a really good job of sucking out his life. Now she's off with Raven's raven and she won't be here to help us."

"We don't need her," Robin said firmly. "We'll still be able to do it without her. But we need a plan. A really, really good plan."

"I agree that we should blow the place up and all, but I don't think it should be that simple," Raven said. "I think me, Red X, and Cyborg should work on blasting the dungeon out of proportion – ruining the whole castle isn't necessary – and while we do that, Beastboy and Robin should work on making sure the guards don't stop us."

"That's a great plan," Robin agreed. "Beastboy and I can't help much with the blasting, but with Cyborg's sonic canon, Raven's entire powers, and some huge X's of Red X, the place will be blown up soon. We can definitely hold off the guards for some time."

"Good," Cyborg said with a nod. "I say we call them, tell them our plan, then go for it, okay?" he asked with a grin.

Beastboy nodded, and got out his communicator. "Blackfire? Starfire? We're going to rescue you right here, right now."

Blackfire grinned. "I guess you changed your mind, eh, X? We _are _a necessity of the moment after all?

X sort of growled.

"What is this excellent plan?" Starfire asked. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot from crying, but she was still chipper and happy, for the most part. Robin was glad – he didn't want her completely unhappy on his account. He didn't even want her a little unhappy on his account, but a little was better than completely.

"They'll blow up your prison. Rob and I will stop the guards. You two will make a barrier. Then… we run." Beastboy said this in a very dramatic way, pausing after each sentence and a longer pause after 'then.'

They laughed, agreed, and hung up.

"It's time," Cyborg said with a grin.

"I'm afraid not," Stonefire said, walking slyly up to them. Each and every one of them froze in disbelief.

"Well, Satan's come to visit us," Raven said stiffly.

"I think you're going to leave now," Stonefire said calmly.

"New plan," Cyborg said quickly. "Stonefire's the new jail, and his guards are the old guards. Titans, go!"

Before the guards or Stonefire had time to think, Stonefire was hit hard all over his body with three deadly powers, and most of his guards were destroyed.

"He'll be leaving us alone for a while," Red X said with a smile.

"Yeah, but we've got to get out of here, and fast. They've got backup," Robin commented uneasily.

They turned and ran. So much for that.

Still, Robin thought of earlier that day, and his spirits lifted. She loved him. There was still hope for the two of them.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

"They're not coming," Blackfire said with a glance out the window. "Stonefire heard their plan. He stopped them."

"I did not think it would be that easy," Starfire said shortly, giving her sister the cold shoulder.

"Star, why are you so mad at me? I was just trying to help you."

"By telling Robin that I loved him? I want him to apologize – sincerely – and prove it, Sister. I wanted him to do that _without _knowing whether or not I would forgive him. That is pointless now. He will apologize, knowing that I will forgive him."

"Then don't," Blackfire said simply.

Starfire looked stunned. "What?"

"Don't forgive him," she repeated.

"Don't forgive him." Starfire looked at her sister like she was delusional. "Did you not just hear me? I love him. I want to be with him."

"There's this thing," Blackfire explained.

"A thing."

"Yes, a thing. It's more like a motto. Play hard to get – let the men do the chasing."

Starfire, once again, was utterly confused. "Now I feel just stupid," Starfire said. "You, too, are from Tamaran, and you have spent less time on Earth than I have, and yet you still know sayings like this that confuse me!"

"It's a gift," Blackfire said with a grin. "Anyway, let me explain. 'Play hard to get' means that you have to act like you don't want him. Act like you're too good for him, and that he doesn't deserve you. If you play hard to get, he'll try harder and harder to get you. The only catch is that you can't be too obvious or too hard – for instance, don't say something like, 'Sorry, I am playing hard to get.' And don't say, 'You will never stand a chance with me' flat out. That dampens his spirits."

"So what should I say and do?"

"Say things like 'Robin, I have seen sides of you that I dislike greatly, and I do not wish to be with someone so low. I am afraid that I honestly believe I deserve better.' And give him the complete and total cold shoulder – don't talk to him unless he talks to you."

"And the other part, this 'let him do the chasing?'"

"Yeah. About that. It just means that he should have to do whatever and everything it takes to get you. You just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

Starfire frowned. "How long does this take?"

Blackfire enjoyed being an expert on these things. "I'd say… about…" she stuttered. "I don't know, actually. That's for a real Earth expert. Say… Blazefire?"

They called her in.

"Hey," Blazefire said, tossing some of her blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"We need some guy help," Blackfire said.

"My specialty," Blazefire said with a grin. "How may I help you?"

"First of all, how long does it take for the 'let the guy chase you, and play hard to get' thing to work when the guy needs to apologize and keep the girl from fighting with her?"

Blazefire chewed her lip for a moment, then said, "In Starfire and Robin's case, I'd say – if she plays it cool – it could take as little time as a week for Robin to become a complete romantic, make the time perfect, and get Star to forgive him."

"Really? This treatment will take only a week?"

"With most guys I'd say a month at least," Blazefire said, "but Robin is crazy about you, and I can see the romance in him. It won't be much longer that a week – a week and a half, maximum. What's the other guy question?"

"Okay," Blackfire said before Starfire could say anything. "What happens if there's a guy that you really like, but all you ever find yourself doing is arguing with him?"

Blazefire laughed. "Well, that's what happened between me and Cyborg, and everything worked out, so not to worry."

"Yeah, but it's different for you. I mean, you're blonde, you have amazing silver eyes, and you don't walk around in a Tamaranian uniform. I'd buy clothes, but I don't have any money. What should _I _do?"

"Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean anything. I love your hair. Besides, yours is the same length and thinness as mine, so if you desperately wanted to, you could just dye it blonde."

"Then it would look like I wanted to look like you."

"Well then let him like you for who you are," Blazefire said easily. "I mean, I like your dark hair, and your eyes are totally cute, too – I mean, who else has violet eyes? – and you've got a style and an attitude that's all your own. Besides that, you and Red X have a lot in common. He's been evil and so have you, you both chose to be good, but you both have a funky, dangerous side."

"But doesn't he like Star?" Blackfire asked nervously. Starfire was very surprised to see this new side of her sister – she was used to the confident, smart, mwa-ha-ha girl.

"Not anymore," Blazefire said with a smile. "He's been over her for a while. I think he's realized that she's too much of a goody-good sissy for him." She grinned when Starfire glared at her. "No offense," she added teasingly.

"Yeah," Blackfire said. "I mean, Robin loves that in a girl, I guess."

"Robin doesn't love Star for her goody-good-ness or her sissy-ness. He loves her for _her_, and he's so crazy about her, it makes me insanely jealous," Blazefire said.

"Cyborg adores you, Sister!" Starfire said in disbelief. "Even when you were fighting, he would talk to Robin and Raven and I about how much he loved you yet you made him so annoyed… and then when you finally did get together, all he could talk about was how excited he was, and how it was the best thing in his life, and then he rattled on about how you were such a good person for liking a half robot…" She shook her head. "He got quite annoying, really. It was a nuisance." She just got back at Blazefire for the goody-good teasing.

Still, Blazefire was thrilled at this news. "Well, that does make me feel better. But about X, Blackfire… no genius advice here. He probably already likes you. If I ever get the time, I'll casually talk to him about it. But for now, just cool it. Flirt with him, but just enough so that he doesn't quite know you like him.

Blackfire nodded. "Thanks."

"So… I must, for certain, use this chasing method?" Starfire asked.

"YES!" both of the others said exasperatedly at the same time, then hung up.

**Somewhere West of TCC:**

Cyborg, Raven, Beastboy, and Red X were talking in loud, distracted, annoyed, and confused voices about the current situation. There was often shouting, whining, and scolding, and no one would let anyone else complete a full sentence. Staring at them from afar, Robin felt like strangling them. What he wanted was peace – alone time – to think.

Still, he knew that it was pointless. He had to apologize, make it sincere, and see what would next happen. He wouldn't give up – not ever, for Starfire – but he thought that he shouldn't start off with a huge scene.

He walked a little ways off – just far enough for the voices to become very faint (he knew they wouldn't notice he was gone) – and pulled out his communicator. Hand shaking, he dialed in Starfire. He didn't want to think about his apology before he talked to her, or he might throw up. Instead, he planned to just spit it out and hope he wouldn't get extremely nervous in the process.

"Starfire," he said when she opened up her communicator. "Um, hi." _I am such an idiot, _he thought. _What was I thinking? _Just looking at her beautiful face and seeing her surprised expression made him want everything to be perfect.

"Hi," she said faintly, leaning away from the screen and saying something to Blackfire. She didn't look very excited to talk to him, even though what she really was thinking was, _I greatly dislike Blackfire's method of ignoring. What if Robin has apologized? I do not think I can handle turning it down._

"Listen, Starfire. I was thinking about… you know, us, and…"

"Why do you refer to you and me as 'us?'" Starfire asked. Really she was just saying what Blackfire was writing down for her to say, but Robin thought this was genuine. "You and me are not 'us' anymore. You are Robin and I am Starfire."

"I know," he said disappointedly. _But I'm not giving up yet. _"And I also know it was my fault, and if I wasn't such a coward and a spy, none of this would have happened."

"True," she said stiffly. _He's going to apologize!_

_She could make this a little easier for me… then again, I do deserve it. _"Look, Starfire, I know that was my fault, and that I was a coward and a spy, and I could never apologize, and I always wanted you to forgive me, anyway. And I always expected you to be there. But I couldn't apologize because… well, because, I hate to say it, but there's a part of me that can't stand being wrong. And when I say sorry for something that I know I did that was wrong, it sort of blows up. But I think it will get stronger when I say that I really am sorry for all those troubles I put you through. And I know sorry isn't enough, but maybe we could just start from there, you know?"

"Vaguely," she said with a sigh. This was killing her – she wanted it on tape. It was the best apology she had ever heard so far.

"And the only reason I had spied on you – I swear it was just that once – was because Red X wasn't good yet. He was still dangerous, and I wanted you to be safe." She started to say something, but he stopped her. "But that's not the truth," he admitted finally. She knew that wasn't, and so did he. "Okay, you caught me. The truth is, I spied on you because I was jealous. I was jealous because here was a guy who was smart, cunning, and who really wouldn't stop flirting with you. And I wanted it to end, because as strong as his crush on you was, it wasn't as strong as my feelings, Star. That's because… I love you."

_And maybe someday I'll love you, too, Robin. But not now. _That was what Blackfire wrote for Starfire to say. But she didn't. She couldn't. That was the most beautiful, sincere apology she had ever heard, and her eyes were fogging up. She felt the first tear ripple down her cheek before she even blinked. She ripped up Blackfire's paper and whispered, in the happiest voice she had used in years, "Thank you so much. Honestly… I love you, too."

**Me:**

Ha! There you go! A wonderful gift! I finished chapter sixteen on spring break, too, so when you're reading this, you should have read both fifteen and sixteen at the same time! And, for your added comfort, here's a layout for the rest of the story (I might change a few things, though):

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Enemy's Enemy is Your Friend (Slade begs to help the Titans) 

Chapter Eighteen: The Sum of Humor and Monotone (Beastboy and Raven chapter)

Chapter Nineteen: I'll Spread My Wings (song chapter to Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway"

Chapter Twenty: Revolutionary Sisters (meeting Juanand'es and Juanit'es)

Chapter Twenty-One: Fast and Liquidized Allies (Aqualad and Speedy come to help)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Starting Over With the Siege (the siege begins again)

Chapter Twenty-Three: A City In Flames (TCC is going down!)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Jail is Not the Answer (Rhustin and Philip are sent away)

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ten Teen Titans (ten Titans are picked for good)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Almost Back to Normal (back at the tower, they practice new life)

* * *

Hope I didn't give away too much there! Anyway, I don't need any review responses because I did them the last chapter, so I guess that's all, folks! 

Glad to Please,

Kweenie


	17. Enemy's Enemy Is Your Friend

As you expected (if you read my chapter layout, anyway), this chapter is called Enemy's Enemy Is Your Friend, like the motto. It's called that because – if you didn't already figure this out – Slade's enemy becomes Stonefire, so… Stonefire's enemies are the Titans, so they are the supposed "friends." The same is vice versa – the Titans' enemy is Stonefire, and his other enemy is Slade. I think you get it.

Yeah, I don't have much to say here. So I guess I'll get on to disclaimer and dedication.

Disclaimer: IDOTT. For once, I'll leave it at that, since I have nothing else to say. And no, I'm not in a bad mood. I'm just… I don't know, bored.

Dedication:

Chapter Seventeen: Enemy's Enemy Is Your Friend

**Tamaranian Capital Castle:**

"Slade," Stonefire barked. "I am sick of hearing your excuses for suddenly leaving. However, as I need to know where you were, I can bear one last excuse."

"You're my partner, aren't you, Stonefire?" Slade asked with a cunning eye.

"Well, that is what we agreed on, Slade."

"And that makes us equal, does it not?"

"In my planet, I am the supreme ruler. If anyone has a problem with that fact, they can go to Hell. But here, I am above you."

"Still, our agreement was that we would be equal."

Stonefire made a fake scared face. "Oh, no, I told a lie! I'm so sorry, Mommy!" he said sarcastically. Then he turned to Slade head-on, his regular, cruel face facing him. "So I told a lie. So I am now above you. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes. And if you tell me to go to Hell, I'll be sure to take you with me."

"Then I guess I won't be telling you that. I'll just make sure you know that I don't care if you have a problem. But if you do anything about that problem, I'll be sure that you are dead. I don't know if you'll go to Heaven (doubtful), Hell (more likely), or a next life (in which I hope you are a silly little girl who has a brain the size of a peanut."

"As I said, if I die, I will be taking you with me. You may have forgotten, but I am much more cunning and powerful than you. I may not survive, but I can easily take you down, as well." He smiled. "Are you sure you want to take that chance?"

"Slade, let me tell you something. I have soldiers of plenty, and you have no friends or allies besides Philip, who is currently playing janitor in my castle with no complaints. I knew you would never fall that low, so I let you work higher. Still, the fact remains that you have no power here. It also remains that you are not more cunning or powerful than me."

"We both know that is a lie."

"Prove it," Stonefire challenged.

"Fine. A bat is more respected than a rat, Stonefire. Robin understood that riddle. Can you understand it?"

Stonefire looked baffled. Blushing madly, he said after a moment, "It is no riddle. A bat is less feared and more liked than a rat would ever be." Still, he said it uneasily.

"Not quite," Slade said with a sneer. "It means that when I was Batman, people respected me. But now I am simply your rat, and no one respects that."

"Well, you got lucky. Hit me with another one."

"Some rattraps take time before the rat dies. What does that mean?"

"A pain won't kill you, but a huge pain can," Stonefire said in complete mortification. He had no idea.

"It means that even though you are biting at me like I am a tiny, scrawny rat, it will take time before you come close to destroying me."

"Two. Still not many. Three will mean something."

Slade shrugged. "Your enemy's enemy is your friend," he said. "That is an old saying. You should know it. What does that mean in my case?"

"Your enemy is the Titans, so I'm their enemy, so you are my friend," he said confidently.

"No, I'm afraid not. See, the Titans have not done anything to me in a very long time, and they never did anything to the bat side of me. They aren't the enemy here. The saying in my case means you're my enemy, the Titans are your enemies, and that makes them my friends. They already know I won't betray them. Face it, Stoney. I beat you in wit, and I have the marvelous Titans as my friends. I also have the key to the dungeon of this castle inside me, and you won't be getting it out of me anytime soon. So I suggest that, unless you want two of your daughters to be free, you let me leave."

Stonefire was baffled, but he nodded. "You may leave. But only if you take the key out of you when you leave and leave it on the front porch of the castle. And do not come back. If I don't find it there in fifteen minutes… I send my entire army after you."

Slade smirked. "Send anyone after me now, and the girls are free."

Stonefire nodded. "You have outwitted me, Slade. But you have not out powered me. We face each other by tomorrow."

"Fine," Slade said, turning to leave with a snide smile. He had outwitted Stonefire again – he had already made two copies of the dungeon's key.

**Somewhere West of TCC:**

"This is so stupid," Beastboy said. "Do you really think we'll get anywhere?"

"We're going to save Blazefire easily, we're working on Starfire and Blackfire right now, and Slade is turning against Stonefire. Also, we have a huge lead on Juanit'es and Juanand'es. I'd say yes," Raven said with a snicker.

"She's right, BB. If you think about it, we've covered a lot of ground already, even if the siege didn't work out," Cyborg said.

Just then, Melanie called. "Raven, your raven was excellent. I already found a hut, and your raven says she's in it, along with three other alive bodies. I mapped it out, and I'm sending it to BB right now. But I so wish I could talk to her! She's _right _there!"

Just then, Beastboy phoned Blazefire in. "There, he said, laughing. "You can talk to her."

"Huh?" Blazefire asked.

"I'm standing outside your hut right now, but an invisible raven is in front of me and it's making me invisible, so no one can see me. But I want to talk to you for real!"

"So you guys know where I am?"

"Yeah," Beastboy said. "As soon as her map gets to me, I'll be coming there!"

"Great!" she said excitedly.

"Hey, Raven, can I keep this raven as a pet?" Melanie asked hopefully.

Raven snorted. "Would you like me to make it small and have feelings?"

"YEAH!" Melanie said excitedly. "And make it have feathers, and maybe let it talk, and make sure it doesn't get sick or die."

"You're serious?" Raven asked in disbelief.

"Um, _YEAH_!" Melanie said loudly. "It's so cute!"

On her "yeah," some guards turned their heads. "I forgot I was in earshot," Melanie whispered. "I gotta get outta here. Rae, I'll leave the pet-making to you when I get back."

Raven snorted, but Robin nodded. "I know it'll be hard, but you should. Melanie… no offense… doesn't have powers that especially help in battle. A powerful raven would really help, and it would bond with her, as long as you made it have feelings."

Raven shrugged. "I guess you're right, but I'm not going to make it talk."

"Works for me," Melanie said softly. Then she got on the back of the raven – still invisible – and they left. But that was before Raven felt another voice in her head.

_**

* * *

**_

_Not yet, Slade, I already told you that._

**I think Robin would reconsider if he heard what I have for him.**

_I doubt it, but I'm listening._

**I have a key.**

_Wow! He has a key._

**Not just any key, Raven. Watch that mouth.**

_I'm sorry, but this better be a good key._

**Trust me, it is. I mean, if my calculations about him and a certain Starfire are true.**

_You mean you know he loves her?_

**Ha! I knew it. And yes, I do mean that.**

_So what does that have to do with the key?_

**Think about it for a moment.**

PAUSE. _OH! You don't seriously have the key to…_

**The dungeon at the capital castle?**

_Oh, my God! Of COURSE Robin will let you join us!_

**Then I'll meet you in fifteen minutes. Where are you?**

_Half a mile west of TCC. And if you're lying, Slade…_

**You know I'm not. You have those sensors, don't you?**

_Yes. But…_

**Fifteen minutes.**

_**

* * *

**_

"Slade's coming," Raven announced. "Fifteen minutes. He's going to join up with us in this whole war thing."

"WHAT?" Robin and Cyborg shouted at the same time.

"Dude, Raven!" Cyborg said in disbelief. "You can't go deciding these things without our help or say!"

"And besides that, you should have at least checked with Cyborg. He is the leader, after all," Robin said.

"Raven suits being leader more than you do, Cyborg," Red X chimed in. "I mean, think about it. You have a girlfriend now. Isn't there a rule or something where you shouldn't be leader if you're in a relationship?"

"It doesn't matter!" Raven shouted. "Just let me finish! He's coming because he told me something very important. If we let him join us, he'll give us the key to Starfire and Blackfire's prison. He made a copy while he was working for Stonefire. And yes, he was honest," she added for Robin's sake.

"Then Raven made the right decision!" Robin said in happiness.

"Slade, working with us?" Beastboy asked with a wince. "I don't know, guys. I mean, he's been our enemy forever."

Raven shrugged. "He was honest."

"Let's vote," Robin suggested. "Raven says he should come, I say he should come. BB, what do you think?"

"As long as I don't catch him in a closet with Raven, and as long as he really does have the key, then sure," Beastboy said. Raven glared at him.

"Okay, BB says yes. Cyborg?"

Cyborg shook his head. "I don't think so. We can save the girls without him."

"I'm not sure if we should give X a say," Raven said, giving a meaningful glance to Robin. "I mean…"

Robin thought about it for a moment, then said, "No, Red X deserves a say in anything that has to do with this mission. What do you think, X?"

Red X smiled. "You're sure coming around, eh, Robin?" he asked with a smirk – but it wasn't as rude or sly as it usually was. He was actually giving Robin a pleasant, humorous smirk, and Robin was touched. "Well, I've worked with Slade before, and he really is great to have as an ally. I'd vote for him."

"We should probably call up Melanie, Star, Blackfire, and Blazefire," Beastboy suggested, "to get their POV's."

"Let me guess," Cyborg said. "You just found out what POV stands for, and you were dying to use it in a sentence."

"Good idea, BB," Robin interrupted. He rang up the other four in his communicator.

"Guys," Beastboy said, "What do you think about Slade joining the team? If he does, he'll give us the key to Star and Blackfire's dungeon, and he'll stay our ally."

There was a lot of shouting about this, but Starfire said loudly, "For the love of Schniblits, will you please shut your horschnattles?"

Robin laughed, and especially loved being able to laugh knowing that she wasn't mad at him anymore. "So, what do you think?"

"If we can get outta this dump," Blackfire said, "then we should go for it."

Red X laughed. "The whole prison thing really _is _getting annoying."

"So, so far we have four yes's and one no," Raven said. "What do you think, Melanie?"

Melanie shrugged. "Considering the minute I brought my sister back from the dead, she made me bring him back from the dead, and it was later that I found out it was his fault in the first place, I don't trust the guy, so my answer would be no. But I do want to get Star and Blackfire out of there, so I wouldn't hate it if he joined."

"Four yes's and two no's," Raven said. "Starfire?"

Starfire frowned. "I do not like the way Slade has treated…" she was going to say Robin, but she didn't want everyone to think they were completely in love again. It needed time before anything could be official. She at least wanted to see Robin in person, and to kiss him at least once, before they could know. "…any of us," she finished, "but I certainly do want to get out of here…"

"Four yes's, two no's, one come-back-to-her-later," Raven said. "Blazefire, if you say no and Starfire makes up her mind as no, we'll have a tie. What do you say?"

Blazefire looked at Raven and said, in a way more wise than anyone else, "Raven, you know if he was being honest or not. Was he?"

"Yes," Raven said after thinking. "I'm sure he was."

Blazefire shrugged. "I trust her," she said. "So yes."

"Then Star, we don't need your vote," Raven said. "We have Slade as our partner."

Just then, Slade walked up to them. They all shuddered, even if he was on their side. "I said fifteen minutes, Raven," Slade said with a grin. "Your voting took twenty… though I must say I'm glad you all found me so popular."

"Where is the key?" Robin demanded with a sour look on his face.

"It was my side of the bargain," Slade admitted. He handed Robin the key. "Beastboy," he said when Robin handed it to Cyborg to scan. "Might I speak to you for a quick minute?" he asked. Raven looked at Slade hopefully, and he nodded.

"Sure," Beastboy said, standing still.

"I mean in private," Slade said simply, "unless you want your relationship with Raven to become very public."

This turned quite a few heads, so Beastboy groaned, glared at Raven, and followed Slade further out away from the others.

"Do you honestly think," Slade said with a snort, "that Raven and I are in a relationship?"

Beastboy's eyebrows went way up. "You mean you don't… like her?"

"I find Raven's powers fascinating," Slade said, "but as a person, I find no interest in any females. I am much too busy to spend time on these silly things."

"But all those times you were communicating with her, and when you tried to get her to go to that water tower or whatever it was alone…"

"Not because I liked her," Slade said, appalled. "Because I wanted to learn more about her powers and try to use technology to have powers like them."

Beastboy's eyes became very, very wide. "But then, when she lost her powers that day, at battle… I was sure it was because she liked you!"

"No, it was because I used Philip's sword to take her powers away so that she'd leave so we wouldn't capture her, because I wanted to actually fight her more to learn more about her powers. I just hid the sword so she wouldn't know."

Beastboy dropped to his knees in guilt. "Then… all the yelling and fighting…"

"Was because you were insecure of your relationship with Raven."

Beastboy couldn't believe it. "Oh. Well, thanks for your… honesty," Beastboy said uncomfortably. "I guess I should be… going."

Slade nodded. "Yes, you should," he said with a smirk.

_**

* * *

**_

_I'm such an idiot, _Beastboy thought angrily. He had started to come back to the others, but he needed some alone time, so instead he walked a good ways away from them and sat down on a large rock.

_She didn't like him. She kept telling me that, but he was tricking her, so she never had any excuses. _Slade had tricked Raven into leaving – which helped her, but also helped him. He had taken her powers away, but he made her think it was her feelings for him that made her powers disappear.

Anger and hatred for Slade swelled up inside of him, but he knew he couldn't do anything to him. Slade was a part of the team, at least for now. That meant he was on their side. Beastboy just hoped that would stop him from trickery.

_I can't blame Slade for what happened between me and Raven,_ Beastboy realized sadly. _If I had just trusted her, none of this would have happened. I loved her, and at the first sign of danger, I fled. _

The worst part was how stupid it seemed now. Especially to anyone else. It was _Slade. _Old, evil, tricky, bastard Slade. How could he _ever _suspect Raven of liking him? It was Raven, after all. Young, goodhearted, smart, sweet Raven. _His _Raven. And he hadn't trusted her.

His communicator buzzed to their jingle. He ignored it. He wasn't in the mood for more planning. Seeing her face mad at him one more time would break his heart, anyway.

_**

* * *

**_

"I sent the map to Beastboy," Melanie said on her communicator to the others, "but he didn't reply. Did he leave yet?"

"He's not here," Robin said, "but he would've thanked you or at least acknowledged that he got the map before he left, so I don't think he has yet."

"I think he needed some… alone time," Slade said.

"What?" Cyborg asked.

"Don't ask," Raven said quietly. She mouthed "thanks" to Slade, but felt bad. Was Beastboy all right?

"I don't think Beastboy will want to leave any time soon," Slade added.

"I'm sorry if it messes up his pouting schedule," Blackfire said with a snort, "but my sister needs to get out of that creepy dungeon, and we're talking soon here, okay? You guys either need to get him up and out of there or…"

"I'll go," Slade said.

"Slade, in case you forgot," Red X said, "you're about eight feet tall, loud, metal, and obnoxious."

Blackfire, Blazefire, Starfire, and Melanie all burst out laughing. "We should patent that and make it a world-famous quote," Blazefire said. "We could put it on a poster like those posters in classrooms and sell them. Of course, we'd have to change Slade to someone else…"

"Who else is eight feet tall, loud, metal, and obnoxious?" Blackfire asked.

"Cyborg," Raven said with a grin.

"Yeah," Melanie agreed. "The world all knows Cyborg. He's a superhero!"

"Back to the point," Cyborg said, rolling his eyes. "What about the whole tall, loud, metal thing, Slade?"

"I'm surprised you all forgot, but when Melanie brought me back to life, she enhanced my powers which I already had – which were to transform into anything I want. I could transform into a cheetah to get there, then perhaps some grass on my way in, then a crack in a brick to actually get in."

"I totally forgot about that!" Melanie said. "So you could actually be about one inch tall?" she asked with a grin.

"And quiet," Blackfire added.

"_Not _metal," Blazefire chimed in.

Starfire chuckled. "I do not know if you not being obnoxious is a possibility, Slade," she teased.

"The redhead makes a point," Raven said.

"Just send the map to me, too, Melanie, and I'll be on my way."

Melanie nodded, did so, and they hung up.

_**

* * *

**_

It was getting dark. Raven had created a tent with a lock and was already sleeping in it (or so they thought – actually she was just staring into a fire and thinking about Beastboy). Melanie had set up camp with the miniature raven somewhere in between Blazefire's prison and the rest of the team's spot, and Beastboy was still far off, staring into a fire that he had made and just thinking about Raven, as she was him. Slade, of course, was off to find the prison, not bothering to rest.

This left Robin, Red X, and Cyborg alone to talk. They had made camp – which included a fire and three sleeping bags nearby it. They were in their sleeping bags, but they weren't sleeping. They were supposedly "keeping guard of the place," but really they were just discussing… well, love.

"So," Red X said hesitantly to Robin. "Listen, I know things are going pretty well with us, and I don't want to mess anything up, but I want you to know that I honestly am over Starfire. I still think she's great, but I also realize now that she's not even my type. She's your type, and she belongs with you. I just wish I could prove it to you."

Robin shrugged. He, like Starfire, didn't want to make their being back together a big deal until he at least could see her in person, so he didn't mention that. "I believe that you don't like her anymore. I just think, since everyone else does, you should have someone."

"Well, technically _you _don't," Cyborg reminded Robin.

"But I know things will work out with us in time," Robin explained.

"I guess there might be _someone_," Red X said thoughtfully.

"Is she a Titan?" Cyborg asked quickly. "Or at least helping us? Oh, is she one of the four?" he added.

"The four?" Robin and Red X asked at the same time.

"Me and Beastboy made it. You know, the four girls who are best friends – the three flames and Melanie. The same long, thick, straight hair, just in different colors, the striking eyes, the same height."

"You're right," Robin said. "I never thought of that."

"Yeah," X said, "the one I'm thinking about is one of them."

"Not Blazefire," Cyborg said sternly.

"No, not Blazefire."

"Melanie?" Robin asked.

X shook his head.

"Oh," Cyborg said with a grin. "Of course. The bad girl. Red X, the ex villain, has the hots for Blackfire, ex… communist," he said with a laugh.

"I'm not saying anything's for sure," X said, "but she has that dangerous vibe like me, and she's cute, and funny, and just so much like me, you know?"

"They really are kind of a good match," Cyborg said to Robin. "What do you think?"

"Blackfire has a history of weirdness to me," Robin said with a snort, "but she's more your type than anyone else, X."

"Do you think we'll be seeing more of Aqualad before this whole Tamaran thing is over?" Red X asked, changing the subject. "I've never worked with him when I was good."

Cyborg's eyes flashed as he grinned. "This is definitely the biggest adventure we've had, and it's not nearly even half over yet. I think that soon enough we'll be needing more allies, and he'll be one of them."

**Me:**

How'd you like it, everyone? Well, I hope you liked it a lot! I know it's weird that Slade's now with the Titans, but I couldn't bear to kill him, after all that happened with the Batman thing. I mean, he was really good as Batman. And Stonefire was driving him crazy.

Stonefire. Now there's someone I could kill. As for Rhustin and Philip, their destinies come later, everyone. They aren't out of this yet, but for now, they're with Stonefire – more like being Stonefire's servants. Here's reviewer responses:

**Warprince2000: **Well, have you read the comics? Because besides Victor Stone or whatever his last name is, that's all I know about Cyborg's past. But I haven't read the comics, so I wouldn't know… basically, what do you know about Cyborg?

**Jjangel9325232: **I'm going to read your next chapter or chapters of Mizzunderstood as soon as I get some free time, but lately I'm so busy that I can't squeeze in the time! Still, as for the next stories I'm going to read, yours is at the very top of the list! Thanks for the love, and of course I didn't think you were using me!

**Pookey: **Yes, the fluffy chapter, some of my ultimate best work (well, I don't know if fluff is my best, but it's definitely my favorite). Speaking of fluff, BBRae is up next, and after that is when they get out of the prison finally! And they can figure out stuff about Juanit'es and Juanand'es.

**D-I-WaRrIa: **Aw, thank you so much! I'll read yours as soon as I can, but I'm so busy right now! Still, I should R&R them by Monday…ish. Haha, I'm only in middle school, and I don't have to deal with SATs! Still, I feel sorry for you. Study hard! I don't actually pre-write them, like the actual chapters, but I plan out the chapter names and stuff so I have an outline of what I'll be writing about. Keepin' it real!

**TeEn TitAn 14: **Thanks a lot! Just one thing… you might want to read the end of that chapter again, because they forgave each other and everything… oh well, just read it again, though I do agree that she was acting like a royal zarganarf (lol) until she forgave him. I bet you write just as well as I do, even though that makes me feel so happy… as soon as I'm done with WAEF I'll go on a break from writing and check out your stories and other peoples', too! But I'm sure you're a great writer, don't say that! (Even if it does flatter me.) Here's more! Thanks, TT14!

Aw, thanks! Glad it was worth the wait! Here's more!

**Solodancer: **Ha! I made you sniff! Wait… I shouldn't be that proud… don't cry! Oh well, at least it's touching! Thanks so much, here's the update!

_**NEXT CHAPTER IS THE BBRAE CHAPTER, EVERYONE! BE THERE OR BE… SOMEWHERE ELSE! (I NEVER GOT "BE SQUARE")**_

'Till Next Time,

Kweenster


	18. The Sum of Humor and Monotone

_**PLEASE READ THIS BEGINNING IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHY I MADE YOU WAIT SO LONG AND FINALLY SEE MY APOLOGY!**_

Okay, everyone, I DO have an excuse. I swear. The first two weeks or something that I didn't post, it was because I was re-reading my own story (strange, I know) to make sure I wasn't getting anything wrong. And in my busy life, reading my long chapters can be tiring to read. The second part of my excuse is that my dad had some clients or something in California, so I and my sister went there for like a month to hang out while my dad worked and hung out with us. And I do have a laptop, but I was never in the hotel to use it, and I'm SO SO SO SO SO sorry! PLEASE forgive me! And I hope you like this BBRae chapter, because I really did work hard on it. I hope it's sweet enough but not so mushy that it's cheesy… who am I kidding? I _love_ cheesy-mushy. But anyway…

Disclaimer: IDOTT. If you don't know what IDOTT means, then you're an IDIOT! Well, besides you lawyers out there. You all are just _great_, guys! Anyway, if you really can't figure out what IDOTT means on a disclaimer, then either think about it or look at one of the first chapters in Captive.

Dedication: Okay, to prove how totally sorry I am for making everyone wait SO LONG for ONE STINKING CHAPTER when it took me about TWO DAYS to write a chapter in Captive, I have decided to dedicate this to anyone who has ever reviewed any of my chapters… thank you SO MUCH to **solodancer, Pookey, Savi, warprince2000, TeEn TitAn 14, D-I-WaRrIa, meangenius, jjangel9325232, shemka oka4, dbzgtfan2004, AlyRaven, mr.rogers, and any anonymous reviewers like Critic and DeathIsMyWayout.** You guys have no idea how much your reviewing means to me, and even though I'm not done with this story yet, I needed to put that in (and thanks for waiting SO FREAKING LONG!)

Chapter Eighteen: The Sum of Humor and Monotone

It was probably four in the morning, for all Beastboy knew. He could hear the far-off voices of Robin, Red X, and Cyborg, but no one else. His eyes were starting to droop, but he stayed out there, still awake, staring into the fire.

"It's all my fault," he thought to himself. "Slade was tricking her… tricking me… and I fell for it. Now we're barely speaking to each other, and when we do, we're fighting." He felt like crying… and really, he felt like he didn't deserve to cry. He might deserve to die, but not to cry. Crying was what Raven had the right to be doing, but not him.

Why couldn't he have just trusted her? He had loved her – really, truly loved her – and the minute Slade had started to show some sign of attraction toward her, he had panicked. It was _Raven. _Raven the _heroine. _Why would she even consider liking Slade? What had he been thinking?

He rested his forehead on his hands. He had to apologize, of course, and do it in the best way possible. But an apology, even if it worked, couldn't possibly be right. He needed to take her somewhere, buy her something…

He sighed. Raven wasn't the kind of girl who would accept an apology if you bought her something, and he knew that. And there was nowhere on Tamaran for him to take her. The only thing he could think of was to find out the thing she would want most – find the most perfect and romantic – and try it and hope for the best.

He turned into a bat, flew high up, and got to her tent. Then he turned into a worm – still in the air – and fell down on the ground next to it. He slithered over behind her, and saw that she was sitting still with her eyes closed, muttering three words under her breath. Three words that brought thoughts flooding back to his mind. Three simple words: "_Azerath, Quashill, Earth."_

How could he have forgotten? Raven as Dove, on Azerath, with her white cape and blonde hair, when her father exiled her as soon as he realized her psychic abilities… Raven as Finch, the beautiful princess of Quashill, whose adopted father also exiled her as soon as he found out her powers were greater than his… and now she must be thinking about Earth. About Raven as Raven, on Earth, with her dark blue cape and dark hair, when her boyfriend that she loved so much left her the moment he sniffed out jealousy.

He was on the top of the list now. He, _Beastboy_, the person who loved Raven with all his heart, was up there next to Raven's father and Raven's ex adopted father on her Hate List.

And there was only one way to get her back: to tell the truth. To tell the truth to Raven about what he had heard that day when she fell asleep, back when Starfire was the only one in captivity and Melanie and Blazefire weren't Titans… back before they had admitted their feelings for each other. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

It was time for him to tell the truth.

**Raven's POV:**

_I wonder if Slade's talking did anything to him. Honestly, I don't really care what he decided. He isn't right for me, and his mistrust proves that. I just hope we can maintain a working relationship for the Titans' sake, though it will be hard._

Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos.

_Still, sometimes I don't know how I could ever be civil around him. He promised me so thoroughly that he wouldn't abandon me. He promised that he was different, and that I was safe with him. He promised me a future of love for eternity._

Azerath, Quashill, Earth.

_My father promised me these things, too, at first. He told me he loved me so much. So did the King of Quashill… he told me he loved me at least three times a day. But these promises of love… are they all lies?_

Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos.

_Beastboy was different, though. He would never consider being evil or dangerously greedy, like the King and my father. He would never even think about joking about breaking my heart. And yet he did just that._

Azerath, Quashill, Earth.

_But after Father, and after the King, I was forced to leave. Beastboy isn't doing that to me. And I don't want to leave. I want to confront my fears. But every time I look at him, I'm filled with pure hate… and pure love. I still haven't stopped loving him._

Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos.

_I wasn't completely honest with him either, though. I never told him about Quashill or what my father did to me. He thinks I'm just not the best daughter. Maybe I deserved this. His jealousy could be equally bad as my lying is._

Azerath, Quashill, Earth.

_It's Beastboy, true. I'll never stop loving him. But if I tell him the truth, how will he react? And what about Slade? Maybe all of this is my fault… secret talks with him, strange encounters… Beastboy isn't over with me yet. There's still something left._

Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos.

Azerath, Quashill, Earth.

_Earth. A place with new possibilities._

**Back to Third Person:**

"Raven?" Beastboy whispered, knocking lightly on the post of her tent. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She sighed. This was her chance, and luckily, he sounded civil. She had to keep him that way. "Sure. There's something I have to talk to you about, too."

He took a deep breath and walked into her tent. "Uh," he said with a frown, "I don't know how to say this, exactly. You can go first."

She looked down at the ground. One lie, she realized – kept secret for a good reason – was forgivable, and much more forgivable than what Beastboy had done to her. He couldn't possibly be mad when she told him the truth. "There's something I think I should tell you. I don't really think that now that I'm telling you this we should get back together, but I think I should tell you, anyway."

He nodded. "I have to tell you something like that, too."

_Another lie you kept from me? _She thought angrily. _You think that stupid issue with Slade wasn't enough? _She didn't say that, though, because she wanted to get this off her chest. "Well, I should have told you before, but…"

"I should have told you when it happened," he started.

"Time for breakfast!" Cyborg shouted gleefully into their tent. "Who wants bacon?"

It was already six a.m., and they had wanted to get a good, early start. Raven and Beastboy both sighed. "We can talk about it later," Raven said with a frown, and turned to Cyborg. "I'll just have herbal tea."

"No wonder you're skinny," Cyborg said with a snort. "You never eat."

Raven glared at him, and he shamefully turned to Beastboy. "Bacon?" he asked, mostly to get the tofu-bacon rise out of him.

"Sure," Beastboy said with furrowed eyebrows, and walked out of the tent to the others.

"Beastboy just agreed to eat bacon," Cyborg said in disbelief to Raven. "What did you say to him, Raven?"

"Nothing," she said honestly. "I was going to, but you came before I could."

"Sorry to interrupt, then," Cyborg said in surprise. "Well… okay… bye."

She gave a curt nod to him as he left, then laid on the ground and thought about Beastboy. What had he wanted to say to her? Another lie? She didn't know if she could bear another one of his heartbreakers. One was enough.

**Breakfast Around a Fire:**

As he munched uncaringly at his bacon, Beastboy scowled furiously at the dirt. He had finally summoned up the courage to tell her he had heard, and now this. Cyborg had gotten in the way of things.

He felt like he couldn't do it – not again. He couldn't walk up to her and just _tell _her.

Then again, when he had been with Raven, things had been so perfect. She had become more lighthearted, he had become smarter, she had become less serious, and he had become _more _serious. They had become a match made in heaven, and then…

Well, then the flames of Hell had come.

**(I'm not really a Heaven-and-Hell kind of person, but I thought that sort of fit in right there. If don't believe in Heaven and Hell, please just ignore that… it was just part of the moment, I guess.)**

Beastboy heard voices – Slade and Robin, talking easily about defeating Stonefire. How could Robin feel so comfortable around Slade when he felt such utter remorse? Slade had used Raven for his own sick weapons, and no one even cared.

Then again, he didn't want anyone else to really _care _about Raven. That was his job.

**A Few Hundred Meters East of the Campfire:**

"What animal should he be?" Cyborg asked. All the Titans (including Melanie and besides the captive ones) were sitting in a circle on a lawn Robin had found while taking his morning jog. "A worm or something would go too slowly, but I doubt they get many birds over there."

"Then again, anyone who works for Stonefire isn't going to be very bright," Raven said. "I think he should just go as a bird."

"Wait," Robin said, glaring at Slade. "How do we know you won't just report everything you've heard – all our plans – to Stonefire?"

Raven closed her eyes.

**Here again, are you, Raven?**

_Just seeing if you're being honest._

**You know, maybe you should look into the mind of your little boyfriend.**

_What are you talking about?_

**If you ever got up the nerves to, you'd realize he has something interesting he wants to tell you.**

_You seriously read Beastboy's thoughts?_

**I really do learn from having these pleasant conversations with you.**

_So, will you report all the team's plans to Stonefire, or not?_

**No, I won't, and it's silly for Robin to think I would at this point.**

_Should I remind you that you seriously got him to be your apprentice once?_

**Twice, you mean.**

_No, just that once. What do you mean, twice?_

**You're honestly forgetting Batman?**

_OH. Right. Well, once when you were evil. He pretty much will never trust you again._

**Well, just tell him I'm being honest. And try to see the beast's mind. It's quite interesting.**

_No way. GOOD-BYE._

"He's telling the truth," Raven said, opening her eyes.

Robin glared suspiciously at Slade, but tried to be agreeable for the team's sake. "Fine, you can go. But if you don't contact us within a few hours, we're coming. And it won't be pretty."

Slade nodded. "A few hours… I suppose I'll have to take the map and put it in my mouth while I run as fast as a cheetah?"

Robin gritted his teeth. "If that's what it takes," he said bitterly.

"Oh, and Robin?" Slade asked, taking the map from Beastboy.

"What?"

"Wait for me before you release the love of your life, would you? I would hate for you to do anything… stupid."

Robin glared at him, but he knew that, because of all the guards, he needed all the help he could get. As much as he hated Slade, he loved Starfire that much more. He would risk anything to save her.

"Fine," Robin said. Slade smirked, put the map in his mouth, turned into a cheetah, and darted off.

Once Slade left, Robin suggested that they should take a break for a few hours.

Raven and Beastboy instantly thought the same thing:

_This is my chance to make things right._

**Raven's Tent:**

After the meeting, Raven had gone straight back to her tent to think. Thinking was what she had done plenty of for a long time, but never for the right reasons. She had always thought about Azerath and Quashill and the Titans' duty, but all she had done for quite a while now was throw insulting comebacks in Beastboy's face without thinking at all. And know she had to think about how she could apologize without outwardly saying she was sorry.

Just as she was wondering how on Earth she was going to be able to deal with this, she heard a discreet tap on the metal posts of her tent. She knew it was either Robin with a report (ever since Cyborg had also fallen in love, Robin had started to take slight leadership) or Beastboy. She wasn't sure whether she wanted or didn't want the latter, but she'd take her chances.

"Come on in," she said. She tried to talk in her usual monotone way, but she could tell her voice sounded choked up and her throat was scratchy.

"Raven," Beastboy said, sitting uneasily down on the ground. There was an open chair, but its beautiful cheeriness made him avoid. He had been with Raven long enough to grow on her gloomy pieces of furniture, and now that he saw a regular one sitting in her gloomy tent, he didn't like the feel of it. "I think we should keep talking about… you know, what we were talking about before."

Raven shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Cyborg coming right then was an omen."

"Or maybe it was just Cyborg being annoying," Beastboy said. "Look, you don't have to tell me, but I need to tell you."

Raven nodded. "Fair enough. But don't expect anything."

"Okay." Beastboy looked strained, but also determined. "I should have told you this when it happened, but it didn't seem right at the time, and afterwards I never found the right time, because I knew it was a topic that you didn't want to discuss, and I tried to respect that, because I understood it." For the usual Beastboy, Raven noticed that he was speaking like a truly educated, kindhearted person. This was the Beastboy she had loved, finally shedding the insults and jokes.

Still, Raven didn't like the sound of "it was a topic you didn't want to discuss." There hadn't been many things she had wanted _not_ to discuss with Beastboy back in the golden days, when they were together and told each other everything. Beastboy waited for her to say something, but she just shrugged, waiting for him to continue.

"Okay, it was when we were still…" He frowned, finding the words or word uneasy to say, but there was also a glint in his eyes that told her he thought of them as "the golden days" too. "…Together," he finished.

Raven's beautiful dark eyes lowered to the floor, and she didn't respond. He thought it was because she was angry, but she was really just lowering her head so he wouldn't notice if she shedded a tear or two.

"Okay," he said with a sigh. "Remember that time you were sort of having a bad dream, and you woke up and I was there, and you asked when you had fallen asleep, and it was right after, um, Terra brought Slade back?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Remember when you were six, and you couldn't form correct sentences? You never aged a day after that." The instant she said it, she wished she hadn't. He was about to tell her something important, and it might really help them. She was acting just as immature as Beastboy had been acting. "Look, I'm sorry about that. Just keep talking," she said in a flustered way.

Beastboy was surprised by the apology, but it made him even more urgent to tell her the truth. "Do you remember what you were dreaming about that day?"

Raven nodded without saying anything. How could he know?

"Okay, remember that other time, when you were talking to Slade in your head and I could hear everything you were saying?" he asked. Seeing Raven's annoyed look, he added quickly, "Look, Rae, I'm not going to bother you about Slade. Really. I was just being insecure and a stupid idiot who didn't trust you… even though I should have."

Raven was shocked by this sudden apology and almost wanted to take him in her arms and lay a kiss on him right then for that beautiful apology, but she wanted to hear what he had to say. "That really means a lot to me," she said honestly. She didn't play mind games like Blackfire had tried to convince Starfire to do. "Anyway, I remember that talk with Slade."

"Well, your dream was kind of like that," Beastboy explained uneasily. He was having a hard time concentrating on the dream when the _real thing_ was right in front of him, but he refused to keep this from her. She deserved to know that he knew. "I mean, I heard everything that happened in it."

Instead of being furious like he expected, Raven's eyes shifted from the floor up to his eyes with a shine to them. "You know all of it? Azerath, Quashill…"

He nodded. "Yeah. I know it was terrible of me not to tell you, but I couldn't bring it up in front of the others, and I was worried you'd shut me out because you wouldn't want to talk about it."

"Of course I'm not mad. It was terrible of _me_ not to tell _you_ about it in the first place. And the fact that you had to find out from a dream of mine makes me feel even worse," she said.

Beastboy was thrilled that she wasn't angry, but he also didn't want her to feel guilty. "Don't say that, Rae," Beastboy said. He didn't sound uncomfortable anymore, but he wasn't sure if putting his arm around her would seem fast. Instead he just stood up and smiled at her. "All that stuff…the things with your dad and your adopted dad and all that betrayal…it was harder than anything I've ever experienced. And it'd be a portion as hard as it is to experience as it would be to tell someone about the experience. I wouldn't want you to relive it just for the sake of me."

The six-year-old she had recently commented on seemed permanently gone. _This_ was him! _This_ was the Beastboy she had always loved! And he was just as caring and loyal and perfect as he had used to be. "That's exactly how I felt," she said, smiling back at him.

Beastboy took a deep breath. "Listen, Rae. I know what I did to you about the whole Slade thing was insane and completely disloyal, but I swear it will never happen again._ Ever._ And I'd understand if you didn't feel the same way anymore, but I still love you. I love everything about you." Determined to prove to her that he was realistic and not making this all up, he added, "Well, all of you besides the chair." He wrinkled up his nose. "That's the_ opposite_ of you."

She laughed, wiping a tear from her eye. But it was a happy tear, not a sad one. "Present from Starfire a long time ago," she explained. "I never put it in my room, but I felt guilty, so I sent a raven to bring it back here. It reminds me of her." She looked into his eyes and said lightly, "I miss her."

Beastboy nodded. "We all do, especially Robin. It's not as happy without her. But she'll be back soon. Slade has the key, remember?"

Raven nodded.

"So," he said, looking at her hopefully. "About-"

Raven smiled. "You are the funniest, sweetest, most understanding person I've ever met," she told him, also standing up. Beastboy had been growing over the past few months, and he now had at least two inches on her.

He looked around the room as a joke. "_Me_?" he asked, just to be sure.

She smiled through another happy tear. "You."

He stepped in closer to her, and wiped the tear off her cheek. But once it was gone, he kept in hand there. He gently put his other arm around her back, and she routinely put her arms around his neck. But the gleam in her eye, the happy look that he hadn't seen on Raven in what seemed like forever, was shining brightly as he leaned in to kiss her. They opened their lips and slowly but surely and had a passionate kiss.

Raven broke it up first, but what she said made it worth the end. "Oh, yeah," she said with a grin. Her arms were still around his neck, and both his arms were now crossed at the low of her back. "The golden ages have returned."

"My thoughts exactly," he said with a smile, and they rejoined for another kiss.

"Rae," a voice said from the outside. But before they could even identify it, Melanie was walking in and babbling about how happy she was to be back and how much she loved her raven.

"I might like this raven," Melanie said with a bright smile when she saw them and they reluctantly ended their second kiss, "but obviously Beastman has gotten dibs on _the_ Raven." She walked over to Raven, squealed, and gave her a big hug. "You deserve this so, so much!" she announced. Then she turned to Beastboy.

"You," she said matter-of-factly, "are officially on my Favorite Peoples list." She smiled at the two of them. "This goes to show that the sum of humor and monotone equals eternal happiness."

**Me:**

What do you think about Melanie? True, she did ruin the kiss, but they had enough time together for this chapter. There will be lots more fluff – that's X-Blackfire, Rob-Star, BB-Rae, Melanie-Aqualad, _and_ Cy-Blaze – coming up. And I mean _soon._ I swear, not all the chapters will take this long. I'm back, and the next chapters should be up within a week or less of each other.

I'm really sorry, but do you think it was worth it? Okay, nothing was worth that wait, but still. Do you think I wasn't completely evil? Oh, and while I was on vacation, I probably got _very_ behind on everyone's stories, so I'll try to read them as soon as I can. But I really want to get this finished – not because I don't like it, but because I have it planned out and I'm expecting it to be pretty cool – so I might be very late on R&Ring others.

Okay, the next chapter is **I'll Spread My Wings,**and it's a song chapter to Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway." If you don't like Kelly and you're either a hard rock or a rap fan, don't hate me – I'm very open. I like Usher too, and there's no way I'd ever_ not _listen to the Killers or the Pixies or Motion City Soundtrack, Hot Hot Heat, or My Chemical Romance. Even then, I also kind of like Ashlee Simpson, and you saw my Jojo chapter. So really, I'm pretty open. Anyway, you guys deserve a preview, so I'll give it to you.

The minute Starfire came out of the prison cell, Robin felt two things: eternal, raging love and eternal, raging anger. He felt the love because after finally making up with her, he had been_ dying_ over the weeks to see her, and now she was finally here. But the anger was to the people who locked her in there with barely any food and not time for happiness. She was thinner than ever, but only for lack of food, and she had numerous tears in her outfit from fighting guards. And he immediately though of Stonefire and how much that bastard was going to pay.

Sound interesting? I hope so! R&R if you aren't shunning me for being mean!

Love you even if you hate me,

Kweenie


	19. I'll Spread My Wings

Yes, I know I renamed the story again (sorry!) but this time is for good. And I also decided (because I'm starting to really like the characters) that I will do AT LEAST one more sequel, maybe more if I really like them. Anyway, once I'm done with this story, I'll move on to my next one… I have a basic idea, but I wouldn't want to spoil it!

Okay, you guys have no idea how much it means to me for everyone to be SO NICE to me after I made you wait for practically TWO MONTHS! The minute I saw your sweet reviews, I was soooo happy, and now I'm really determined to write and post this chapter really soon to prove my gratefulness! And remember, you guys are the ultimate best! Oh, and who saw that episode – I forgot what it was called, heehee, but when they were stranded on that planet? THAT WAS SO ROBIN HEART STARFIRE THAT I WAS ABOUT TO DIE! IN A GOOD WAY! IT WAS SO SWEET! Oh yeah, to make up for the still annoying wait, I made this chapter EXTRA LONG! YAY! (I think…)

Dedication: This one's dedicated to **Savi,**who has recently turned fifteen (I'm so jealous)! Happy late birthday!

Disclaimer: IDOTT. I'm not going to write much else about the disclaimer, because I want to get on with the story to show my gratitude!

Chapter Nineteen: I'll Spread My Wings

**The Uncaptured Titans' Campgrounds:**

"Today's the day," Robin announced as the others came over for breakfast. He looked happier and more excited than he had looked in weeks. "We're going to get Star and Blackfire back." He tried not to emphasis _Star_, but he wasn't very good at it. Still, the other Titans and helpers understood and didn't argue.

"Really?" Melanie asked excitedly. She turned to Slade. "Is he going to come, or not?" she asked, tilting her head in his direction.

"He wanted to leave right now," Robin replied, "but if it's the wrong key, he'll be free to go wherever he wants. Once we're sure that it's the right key and that he's being honest, he can go find Blazefire and hopefully Juanit'es and Juanand'es."

"By the way," Beastboy started cheerfully. Ever since he and Raven had made up, the air around him had been much more the usual Beastboy. "Are they girls or boys? I mean, not that I care, but with names like that, you can't really tell."

Robin snorted. "I don't know," he said. "But everyone should prepare for a really big fight."

"I thought we had the key," Beastboy said in a rather stupid way.

"We've still got to fight the guards," Raven explained.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

It was still pretty early, and Blackfire was still sleeping. Robin had just told Starfire that they would be there to save them later that day, and she couldn't be happier. But as she sat on the cold metal floors, she couldn't help but realize that this was the only time she had to herself.

Her mind went back to when she was a child. She had been raised in this castle, but it had been much smaller and newer back then. There weren't many people who had lived in this town back then, and she had felt like the entire small town belonged to her. Some days she would spend hours sitting in her royal bedchambers, looking through the window. Sometimes it snowed, sometimes it was hot, and sometimes it rained, but she found all the weather cycles beautiful. In fact, the only thing she was unsure about back then was her future – would she find real love, like in stories, or would love be arranged for her? And would her father ever change, and truly love her?

_Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be_

_And if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray_

**The Uncaptured Titans' Campgrounds:**

Robin had spent most of his time at the campgrounds making weapons for when saving Starfire came around. Now that it had, he felt invincible. He had all his old weapons, but he also had shields, bows and arrows, poisonous slingshots, sharp tips to his boots, and even more clever inventions that would help him fight and stay unharmed.

He put all his smaller weapons on his tool belt, his bow and arrows on the sling around his back, adjusted his sharp tips on his boots, and clutched his wooden shield. He was now ready to fight as hard as he could to save Starfire.

"Are you ready?" he asked the others as he walked up to them.

"I've been practicing my more fierce animals," Beastboy said with a determined smile. "Those idiots don't know what's coming for them."

"I made some final adjustments to Melanie's raven," Raven told him. "It's still not perfect, but it can fight really well, and a single touch of Melanie's hand will restore it to full strength. It should help a lot."

"Great," Cyborg said with a grin. "I polished up every metal part of my body, and I've made sure every system is on and running. There isn't a single bug in this baby," he explained, tapping the robotic half of his head.

"I think I'm going to sleep," Melanie informed them. "I need plenty of energy so I can help you guys."

They nodded, and she went back to her tent. "Even I did a little preparation," Red X admitted. "I added some new ways of using X's to my – ahem, Robin's – suit."

"By the way, are you ever going to give that back to him?" Beastboy asked.

Red X shrugged. "I don't think so." Robin laughed, and Red X let out a chuckle. "But I won't use it to do evil, I swear."

"Maybe he could be a Titan," Cyborg suggested casually. He didn't want it to be any pressure, so he said it lightly.

"We'll see," X said with a frown. He obviously wasn't sure about it.

**Tamaranian Capital Castle Prison:**

After a little stirring, Blackfire woke up. Starfire told her that they were going to be freed soon, and Blackfire couldn't be happier.

"You're not so bad, sis," Blackfire said with a small smile.

Instead of something jolly like Starfire usually would say, she only smiled. She was obviously thinking about something else, and Blackfire could sense that. She raised her eyebrows slightly, then spoke.

"What's on your mind, Star?" she asked curiously.

"I was just thinking about our past," Starfire said, looking around at the hard stone and metal walls. "It seems so hard to believe that I lived in peace here not so long ago." Her emerald eyes shone with nostalgia, but also a sense of anger.

"It wasn't exactly peace for you," Blackfire recalled. "It wasn't peace for any of us, really," she added. "Dad has always been commanding. He never would hear anything I had to say about Tamaran, and he was the same way to you and Mom. Don't even get me started about Blazefire."

Starfire nodded. "I remember what you speak of. There were many times when I would take a walk, when this large city was still a small town, and I would see hungry and homeless people in our beautiful planet. But every time I tried to tell Father about these things, he would 'shrug it off,' as Earthlings would say, as nothing. No one listened to me."

_Trying hard to reach out_

_But when I tried to speak out_

_Felt like no one could hear me_

Blackfire nodded. "It was that way for all of us," she agreed. "I loved them both back then, when we were young. I didn't understand them, but I knew – well, thought – they loved me. And that was all that mattered. So everything they said and did, _I_ tried to say and do them, too."

"I remember that, as well. Each time I would say something they did not like, I would seem to get into trouble with them. So I would try to act like them," Starfire agreed. "But I never felt right when I did that. Now I see why."

"Yeah," Blackfire said. "It was like I was trying to fit in, but I never felt right doing that. Now I realize it's because I'm not like him. He's _evil_, and I'm not destined for that. I'm destined to be good, and I'm ready to face that destiny. But I remember wishing I had a different family and a different life."

"I got the Titans, and that was my way of getting away from it all. But now I am back here, and there is nothing I would rather do than get away from it again," Starfire said. "I never thought much of my past before, because it is easier facing your new time than looking back on your old ones. But ever since Father returned to our lives, I have felt more hatred than ever before."

_Wanted to belong here_

_But something felt so wrong here_

_So I pray (I would pray)_

_I could breakaway_

"It's hard to believe that Blazefire did all this," Blackfire said. "I mean, she was always powerful, but to think that she could make the most powerful group of people on Earth get involved in the revolution of a planet they had basically never been on – besides once, anyway – is almost upsetting."

"I understand that this may not have happened if Blazefire did not come, but I cannot believe that I never knew about my sister," Starfire said. "I think I would rather have all of this happen than to never have known her."

**The Uncaptured Titans' Campgrounds:**

"It's time to go," Robin announced. "There's plenty of daylight – I don't care about sneaking, we're just going to fight them head-on – and they'll have plenty of energy to help us once we rescue them. We can form a plan on the way."

The others nodded, and they started their walk.

"Okay," Robin said, "I think once we get there, we should fight as many guards as we can. Once there's a clear way to their door, Melanie can unlock it while we keep fighting. Her raven can protect her long enough."

"Won't Stonefire be expecting us?" Red X asked. "Maybe we _should_ sneak."

Robin shook his head. "I spoke with Slade. He made two copies of the dungeon key, but didn't tell Stonefire. That big-headed king still thinks he has the only key to their dungeon."

"He really is an idiot," Raven agreed.

"What about the mom?" Beastboy asked while they walked. "I mean, do we know anything about her?"

"She's not bad," Robin said. He knew plenty about their mother from speaking with Starfire. "But she's too afraid of her husband to help her children."

"That's terrible," Melanie said as they approached the gates to the castle.

Robin nodded. "Okay, the fighting starts now, but try to stay hidden until we get near the dungeon."

Raven used her psychic powers to silently knock out the guards at the gate. There were only a few, so it was easy.

They ran quietly over to the entrance to the castle. There were about fifty guards there, so they quickly drew their weapons. Cyborg wasn't sure if he should say "Titans Go," and Robin knew it wasn't his place anymore, so Red X took the stand.

"Titans," he said with a smile, "go!"

Raven got about twenty guards easily. Robin used his weapons and martial arts skills to get at least ten, Beastboy stomped over about five as a T-rex, Red X caught ten with his X's, and Cyborg hit the last five with his sonic cannon. Slade only watched, because Robin had strictly warned him to stay out of it.

"Okay, they're going to know we're here now," Beastboy commented as they opened the huge doors to the castle and walked in. "So we should definitely get ready."

When they walked inside, there were only a few maids and butlers who wouldn't dare hurt them. They all rushed quickly up the stairs, probably to inform Stonefire that the Titans were there. No doubt they would also tell him that two of his ex-allies, Slade and X, were with them.

They rushed over to a grand spiral staircase, and ran down the stairs. They didn't stop at any of the floors until finally they reached the bottom one. There were easily five hundred guards waiting for them, probably more. But Melanie shook hands with each of the Titans, and all their energy was restored. Robin handed Melanie the key, and they got to work.

Raven, Red X, Cyborg, and Beastboy immediately went to work at random, but Robin wove his way beating up a path for Melanie and her raven to follow him. Soon he was successfully at the door to the dungeon where Starfire and Blackfire were being kept, and Melanie's raven was fighting off everyone who got near them.

Robin had to weave his way back out to fight more guards, but Melanie got the key in the door, and it was open.

**Only Feet Away (In the Prison):**

The instant they heard the sound of the key in the doorknob, Starfire and Blackfire's heads whipped around to face each other.

"It is them," Starfire squealed excitedly.

"There are probably guards with them," Blackfire said nervously.

Starfire frowned, looking down at her torn outfit. "We are in no condition to fight." Robin hadn't seen her entire body (only her face), but her lack of food had caused her already thin body to become almost literally as thin as a stick. She definitely didn't have enough energy to fight.

"Okay, once the door is open, we fly up and get out of there," Blackfire said. Starfire nodded.

Just then, the door opened. Melanie pulled it open all the way, and Starfire and Blackfire unsurely walked out.

**Still a Few Feet Away (Where Robin is Standing):**

The minute Starfire came out of the prison cell, Robin felt two things: eternal, raging love and eternal, raging anger. He felt the love because after finally making up with her, he had been_ dying_ over the weeks to see her, and now she was finally here. But the anger was to the people who locked her in there with barely any food and not time for happiness. She was thinner than ever, but only for lack of food, and she had numerous tears in her outfit from fighting guards. And he immediately though of Stonefire and how much that bastard was going to pay.

Robin knocked out the few people standing around him, then raced over to Starfire.

"What happened to flying away?" Blackfire demanded.

But Starfire was too busy staring at Robin and feeling free to hear her. Instead of sticking to the plan and quickly flying away, Starfire grabbed Robin, hugged him, and flew him up the stairs, out of the castle, and into the sky. And finally, after all that time in the horrible place she was raised, she had gotten away with the one she loved.

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky_

_I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

"Starfire," Robin said in surprise. He knew that the spontaneous part of Starfire wasn't something he should discourage, but the rage he felt toward Stonefire was calling to him. "Shouldn't we help the others?"

Admiring the beautiful pinkish clouds, Starfire made sure her grip on Robin's wrists were tight and replied, "I cannot stay there any longer."

He felt guilty, but every time he glanced up and saw her mangly body, he felt more and more angry. Her tiny muscles were actually quivering at holding him, while normally that would be as easy as swatting a fly. "Are you sure you can carry me around with you?" he asked.

Starfire smiled down at him. "There is nothing I want more than to have you with me in the sky for the rest of my life. That kind of wanting will give me enough energy."

Robin started to say something, but looking at her peaceful expression stopped him from objecting. He could tell that after being cooped up in that dungeon for so long, she was just soaking up the sun with pleasure. But the fact that after this huge change and this huge risk, she actually had enough energy and power – and _wanting, _as she put it, to remember him and bring him with her.

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

**Outside the Castle Dungeon:**

The minute Blackfire laid eyes on Red X, she completely forgot about her genius plan to fly away. All she could think about was showing off, so despite her need for food and more sleep, she lifted her hands and fought.

While she fought, Blackfire thought about one vacation she had taken with Starfire on Earth. Starfire had told the Titans that she couldn't help them and had actually left them for an entire week, and they went to the beach. Blackfire remembered walking in the sand, squishing her toes in the moistness of it, and looking into the sun, which was partly covered in beautiful palm trees. The ocean waves had come just up to their feet, and it was the most perfect moment of her life.

Blackfire closed her eyes, and Raven sensed that she was going to do something only Blazefire could do – a huge blast. Raven rushed to the back of the room, and she took the others with her using telekinesis.

"I want to get on a train and go to the beach," Blackfire whispered to no one in particular. Red X heard her and watched in awe. "Or maybe I could take a plane. A private one, all to me and Star." She squeezed her eyes shut, and a huge sphere of purple energy formed around her. "I want to sleep under a palm tree, with waves rushing at my feet, and moist sand under my towel." The sphere got bigger, and the guards closest to her were instantly destroyed. "I want to go back to when things were simple." Red X listened in interest. "After the hectic lives with my parents, and before I got my mad streaks." The sphere was getting even bigger. "When I would visit Starfire, and everything would be perfect." It was almost filling the room. "I want to get out of this, and back to the way life was!" she finished loudly, and the sphere exploded throughout the room, wiping out everyone besides the Titans and their allies.

Before Red X could say a word to her, Blackfire passed out, and Melanie rushed to her side.

_Wanna feel the warm breeze_

_Sleep under a palm tree_

_Feel the rush of the ocean_

_Get onboard a fast train_

_Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)_

_And breakaway_

Melanie took a deep breath, then placed her hand on Blackfire's forehead and let out all her energy. This time Melanie nearly collapsed but was still conscious, and Blackfire's violet eyes hot open.

"You heard all that, didn't you?" she asked Red X, who was kneeling beside her.

He didn't laugh like she did, but he nodded. "I thought it was incredible. I think you should do exactly what you said you wanted to do." Still, there was a look in his eye that seemed sorry… but not about her past.

Blackfire sat up, and then stood up. "I will," she said with a nod, "but first I want to fly. Just… _fly._"

Red X nodded quirkily. "Sometimes I wish I could fly. It would seem like a way to get away from it all. All the terrible past, the uneasy present, and the unsure future." Blackfire stared at him with a smile, though she could sense a strange vibe twitching through him.

"Exactly," she said with a smile. She offered him a hand. "Tamaranians have strength," she explained. "Want to fly?"

The others watched in awe as the two ex-villains took hands and Blackfire flew him up the staircase and out through the door. Red X took her hand trustfully, but she could feel his hand quivering. Still, she was so excited to finally be out of there that she didn't even notice.

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky_

_I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll make a wish_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

"Robin," Starfire said softly, "I do not think I can put up with this weight much longer."

Robin smiled. "It's okay. I should probably help down there, too."

Starfire hugged him to her chest. "You are sweet," she said with a smile as she swooped back down to the castle, which was swarming with guards. "Where shall I let us onto the ground?"

Robin scanned the area. "I think we should fight your father another time," he said, gritting his teeth at the thought of waiting any longer. "I'll help the others with the guards. Once you let me down, you should get away, okay, Star?"

"But I must help my friends," she said quickly.

"If you don't go, you might get caught again, and that would cause us even more trouble," he explained. "And I'd kill myself if anything else happened to you."

Starfire was touched, but she had to remind him what she was. "Robin, do not forget that I _am_ a crime fighter, and I shall constantly be put into danger like this. You cannot protect me forever," she told him as they touched the ground a few meters away from the commotion.

He smiled, and kissed her softly on the lips. "I know, but I want to have you safe for at least a few hours."

She smiled and touched her lips like they were precious. "That is fair, and I shall do as you say… for a few hours," she promised. She watched him run up to the others as she hung back, only striking a few starbolts out at a few guards before she ducked behind some bushes and away from them.

Once she was far away enough, she flew up behind a tree and peered through the branches. Even though her father's guards kept coming and coming, she knew they would stop eventually – and she could tell her friends would win. Maybe if Stonefire had Slade on his side, things would turn out differently… but her betraying father had got one of the many bad things he deserved – his best soldier switched sides.

Starfire looked over at the castle with it's old-fashioned, rusted doors and realized that her father's most grand castle wasn't anywhere near as fancy as even an office building back on Earth. She thought about the fancy revolving doors they had had at a museum Robin took her to once, and all the many floors where people who had real jobs went to. She realized that, even though growing up with her father had been a rich life, there was so much more waiting for her on Earth.

_Buildings with a hundred floors_

_Swinging round revolving doors_

_Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but_

_Gotta keep moving on, moving on_

_Fly away, breakaway_

Then she remembered Philip, and instantly the unbridled joy she needed to fly sunk down to the ground, just as she fell. **(Was it unbridled joy? I can't remember. I can remember that it's righteous fury for starbolts, but I don't remember what flight was…)**

"Hello there, Starfire," said a voice from behind her, as if on cue. "Did the wind just change, or did you really fall?"

Starfire leapt up in surprise, and started backing away from him. "Please go away now, Philip," she said slowly, eyebrows narrowed and teeth clenching. She had tried to get used to him by then, but she still couldn't come close to forgiving him.

"But I have to tell you something important," he said with a smirk.

"I do not think I care much," she said, still slowly backing away from him. Her arm hit a tree she hadn't seen, but she ignored the pain. If she was in another dungeon cell one more second, she would have to put a starbolt to her head and kill herself.

"What if it concerns a certain… sister of yours?" he asked.

"Please tell me," she said coldly, "that you realize what you have done to me, Blackfire, and Blazefire is enough."

"Maybe it is, but that Blackfire is really getting on my nerves," Philip explained.

"What… are… you… going… to… do… to… her?" Starfire asked slowly, seething with hatred.

"Actually, I don't think I'm going to tell you yet," Philip replied. "Just keep an eye on her, would you? You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her."

"How dare you?" she demanded. "You do not think it is enough that you put her in a terrible prison cell for this long? You have to do _more_ to her? And after all this time being my father's slave, you still do not realize you are below him? You still _serve_ him?"

"Who said Stonefire arranged this?" he asked, not bothering to hide his smile.

Starfire clenched her fists together. "You do not understand how much trouble you cause me," she said. Before he could reply, she lifted her alien-strength hand and punched him with all the force she had right in the eye. And before he could counter it, she sent a swift kick right into his gut. With her alien strength, he was very, _very _unconscious. "Now we shall see who is doing anything to my sister," she spat as she picked him up and flew him over to where the Titans' campgrounds were. She took the chains from Raven's tent (she had used them as some sort of decoration) and chained Philip up to one of the other tents. Then, glaring at him, she said, "You should feel very happy, friend Philip. I usually think it is disrespectful, even to Slade, to hit someone like that. But I changed my ways for you." Then she left.

**(I always wondered why she never used her super-alien strength to beat someone up. I mean, she does occasionally, but if she really tried, she could kill someone like that.)**

"Um, Blackfire," Red X said when they were high in the air.

She smiled. "You want to get down?"

He nodded, and she swiftly landed him down near the others. "Go look for your sister," he suggested. "Starfire's not here."

"I'm sure she's fine," Blackfire said, lifting a hand to fight.

At first he let her fight, but she saw some kind of realization form in his head. "You shouldn't fight," he said oddly. She was surprised, but let him continue. "I mean, you don't want to get hurt already after all that." He gestured to the prison when he said _all that._

"I'm fine – I can fight," she said. She thought it was sort of sweet for him to say that, but that was something she'd expect Robin to say, not Red X. She had seen him as a fight-it-out guy.

"I don't want you to," he said gently. "Why don't you find Starfire? You're right about her being fine, but you can… chat, or something."

She raised her eyebrows. He was acting really strange… was that because he liked her and he was uncomfortable about talking to her because of that crush? Or was it something else? She knew he wouldn't normally act like this.

"Um," she said with a shrug, "okay." She didn't want to leave him after flying with him and feeling so free, but she _did _want to get away from the castle, so she ran away, letting the breeze blow into her face.

**(Okay, I'm making X weird for a reason. Just don't cram your brain for it. It'll make sense later.)**

_I'll spread my wings_

_And I'll learn how to fly_

_Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye_

_I gotta take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

Blackfire smiled when she approached her sister. "I'm guessing you got a little mad at Phil?"

Starfire laughed, not wanting to worry her sister about what he had said. "Yes. After our past, I suppose I just 'had an urge,' as Earthlings say, to up his beating."

Blackfire laughed at her sister's use of 'beat him up,' then turned to the Titans. "Well, since you got Philip, I think they'll be done fighting really soon. Stonefire won't be stupid enough to use his entire army, especially since we're not even there anymore."

Just as Blackfire said this, the few guards still fighting the Titans went back into the castle. "That was Father's surrender," Starfire said with a smile.

"And finally," Blackfire said, "we're free."

_And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway._

**Me:**

**MAJOR NOTICE: I LOVE WRITING THIS SERIES, SO I (ALMOST DEFINITELY) WILL BE WRITING A THIRD SEQUEL. PROBABLY NOT A FOURTH, BUT EXPECT A THIRD.**

HERE IS ANOTHER NOTICE: I have come up with a new twist to this story that adds a LOT OF DRAMA to it. If you like INTENSITY and DRAMA, then I'm very glad. If you don't, then… well, ignore this message and please don't stop reading. ;)

Oh yeah, I'm really sorry about forgetting review responses last time. I guess I was too excited. Here are the ones from both chapters:

**Meangenius: **OMG YOU ARE REALLY SCARING ME! Sorry, but you have to admit that was surprising… still, thank you, and that means oodles and oodles to me! Yeah, you can turn caps lock off… I wrote more chapters! Okay, next review… creepy that you love Slade so much, but good that you love BB and Rae so much… crappit, I'm using the three dots just like you! Anyhoo, thanks a bundle!

**Pookey: **Thanks, I liked that too. :) And you never reviewed eighteen, but since you wanted to read the BBRae chapter… there it is for you! And hopefully the RobStar in this chapter was also refreshing!

**D-I-WaRrIa: **I'm glad you like drama, because I'm not finished with it yet. And as for the Blackfire-Red X, just don't expect what you're not sure of… strange words I know, but don't get too excited. Your traumatized (with a z, but we still love you, lol) mind may not be confident much longer if it feeds on those two. Anyway, just keep reading and you'll see what I mean. It's quite the drama, though, so you should be happy. No review for chapter 18, but I'm not mad or anything… I know I'm really far behind in your stories. But I love them and I promise I'll catch up!

**AlyRaven: **Updated! I really agree with what you said… when I read that review I felt hideously evil. I think Raven's really pretty too, and besides that, looks aren't everything and Raven's the smartest! Anyway, I updated, thanks for reviewing!

**Jjangel9325232: **Sure, you can email some song lyrics to me… I've heard of them but I haven't listened to them. My email is Anyway, I really love your story, but I'm so busy this summer! I promise I'll review AS SOON as I get the chance, though. I listen to a ton of radio stations. I like basically all music besides country.

**TeEn TitAn 14: **This one was more RobStar, so that should keep you happy. :) And after reading your sweet review, I decided that because these are so fun to write, I will write a third sequel after this. But I don't think I'll do a fourth… they must end eventually, after all. Thanks!

**Solodancer: **Yes, the beautiful fluff… can't live without it. And here was more RobStar fluff. Not much BBRae (or none… I don't really remember as I write this), but the fluff's not over yet! And I hope you like drama! Thankies!

**Warprince2000: **What did you think of The End's so far? My sister was _so _excited when she saw Birthmark, and I was just kind of upset about all the RobRae fluff, but when the others started coming on, I got really excited. I can't WAIT until the third The End. What do you think about them? Oh, and thanks for reviewing!

**Savi: **The best for last! (Looks around innocently) Ahem, you're _all_ the best. Anyhoo, awesome that you like Kelly Clarkson, and awesome that you're fifteen! (though the dedication might be a little late…) Sorry, I'm not on AIM much anymore, but when I am on, I'd love to chat with you. Happy late birthday!

Okay, that was an **_ALL TIME NEW RECORD OF TEN PAGES! BOOYAH, AS CY WOULD SAY!_**

-Kweenie


	20. Revolutionary Sisters

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! REALLY, I NEVER WANTED IT TO TAKE THIS LONG BUT I HAD TO GO TO CONNECTICUT AND NEW YORK AND THEN SCHOOL STARTED AND I HAD TO GET SETTLED IN AND I AM REALLY SORRY! Okay, on with the chapter.

By the way, if you're interested in Inuyasha, my sister **meangenius **just finished this really awesome Inu fic. It's Inu+Kag, Mir+San, and Sesshy+OC. She's as much as a romantic in writing as I am, and she's really good – she's had two years more experience than I have (she's the older one). Her story's called Living for Love, and it's really good, if you want to check it out. But on with the story!

Dedication: This one's dedicated to everyone who's waited this long and will still review because they're awesome!

Disclaimer: IDOTT, but if anyone wants to give me Silky or any of their powers as a present, please feel free. It'd be awesome to shoot starbolts out of my eyes, even if it might hurt a little…

Chapter Twenty: Revolutionary Sisters

**The Titans' Camp:**

"Finally all of us besides Blazefire are reunited!" Starfire explained joyously. She, Melanie, Beastboy, Red X, Raven, Robin, Blackfire, and Cyborg were all in a circle around a fire. She was cuddled against Robin's chest, and he had his arm around her lovingly – he would never dream of letting her go again.

"Okay, you have to admit this is cool," Cyborg said with a grin. "I mean, we are officially a new level of butt-kickers."

Blazefire, who was using her communicator to feel like she was with them, nodded in agreement. "Slade called me around ten minutes ago, and he said he'd be here soon. It was a wise move to take him on your team."

"Don't think we're ensuring him a spot on the team," Robin said quickly. "He's still the same Slade we fought for such a long time."

"Things _have_ changed," Raven reminded him. She was sitting next to Beastboy, her head resting on his shoulder and one of her hands in his. "Plenty of things have changed since Slade was reborn – Blazefire, Melanie, Rhustin, Philip coming back, Blackfire turning good, Slade turning good, Red X turning good, and Stonefire entering our lives."

"It's weird that all of that could happen in such a short period of time," Beastboy said, trying to recall the time before Slade returned while stroking Raven's fingers lovingly.

Starfire nodded. "It all started about the time…"

She couldn't seem to finish her sentence, so Red X finished it for her. "The time Philip held you captive." He was sitting next to Blackfire – not as close as Robin and Starfire or Beastboy and Raven were, but still obviously closer than Cyborg or Melanie were to anyone else.

Beastboy snorted, not realizing that this was a sad moment. "Back when there was a Rough Coyote. Honestly, does it _get_ any lamer?"

Narrowing his eyes at Beastboy not understanding Starfire's sad position, Robin said, "I think Beastman breaks his record."

Beastboy blushed, but Raven said with a grin, "I think it's cute."

"I hate that I missed that," Blazefire said. Robin narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, the subject's already been brought up, so I'm allowed to talk about it," she said with a shrug. "I mean, it's not that I wanted you to be captured, or anything, but I wish I could have seen how things were like before Rob and Star and BB and Rae hooked up."

"Starfire's been a lot happier," Blackfire told her. "She uses a lot more happy Tamaranian expressions."

"I don't think Tamaranian expressions are comforting now," Red X admitted. "I mean, I don't exactly feel _comfortable _here. More like scared out of my mind, even if we did get Stonefire to surrender that once."

"It's not Tamaran that is a fearful place," Raven reminded them wisely. "Tamaran is still a beautiful place that can be saved. It is Stonefire that makes this world dark."

Just then, Blazefire's picture on the communicator screens moved off to one half of the screen, and Slade's face appeared on the other half.

"I can see the prison," Slade said. "How should I enter?"

"Sneak in," Cyborg advised. "You can face the fighting with Lana, Juanand'es, and Juanit'es on the way out." His voice sounded excited at the mere thought of Blazefire coming back.

Robin nodded. "Cyborg's right. Can you get in silently?"

Slade nodded. "I'll be a termite."

Melanie laughed. "Imagine Slade saying that back when Starfire was captive."

"New subject, please?" Robin asked hotly, rising to Starfire's defense. She, not wanting to cause trouble, said nothing.

"I'll call back with the revolutionary sisters and Blazefire shortly," Slade said, and clicked off.

"Cy's right," Beastboy announced. "We are officially the best butt-kicking, mystery-solving superheroes ever!"

**Blazefire's Prison:**

Slade flew as a tiny finch over to the prison, eyeing the guards through beady black eyes intently. They seemed a little surprised at seeing anything alive where they were, but said nothing, and stopped watching him. He then changed into a termite and fell to the ground, where he dug his way under, through the dirt, and found himself under the hard metal ground. Then he changed into a woodpecker – now under the prison and not in the guard's sight – and pecked up to where Blazefire was.

"Oh, my God!" Blazefire explained when Slade changed back into himself. "You did it!"

He nodded. "I just came here to warn you. I'll go back under this cell, dig my way to the other side, and find the two sisters. Then I'll change into some form of spined dinosaur and break my way through the walls. Then the four of us will fight the guards and make our way back to the camp where the others are."

Blazefire nodded. "It's a great plan." She looked at Slade intently. "Why are you helping them after all the trouble they've caused you?" she asked. She meant the Titans, and she knew she wasn't really a part of them yet, so she respectfully referred to them as "them" and not "us."

"While being the bad guy has always been entertaining, my main reason was to get Robin as my apprentice. I realize now that he is as powerful as me, and would not qualify as apprentice level. I now have no use for being evil, and I definitely do not want to be in some kind of league with Stonefire, so I will help the Titans with this mission, then become Batman once again."

"You don't want to join the Titans?" she asked. "After saving Starfire, I bet Robin would let you."

Slade laughed. "It definitely wouldn't be the _Teen_ Titans with me." He shrugged. "Besides, you've seen how I don't get along with being in a group. I'm much better at being on my own."

Blazefire nodded. "At least Gotham will have its superhero again."

"If there even is a Gotham anymore," Slade reminded them. "I'm note sure how it's coped while I was gone."

She shrugged. "Too much talk, not enough saving," she reminded him. He nodded, changed into a termite, and dug his way to the next room.

**The Sisters' Cell:**

Slade changed back into a woodpecker, pecked a large space through the floor, and cautiously changed back into his human form. He warily eyed the two girls sitting in front of him. They had been very young when the stunted the revolution, he could see, because right then one seemed to be in her twenties and the other only her late teens.

"Do you work for Stonefire?" the older one asked dryly, raising to her feet. She had light brown hair and large, dark brown eyes that shone with hatred. She was wearing an outfit similar to Starfire's, but with shorts instead of her skirt and knee-length boots.

"No, Stonefire is my enemy," Slade said. "Now, are you Juanand'es or Juanit'es?"

"She is Juanit'es," the younger one replied for her sister. "I am Juana." She had dark eyes that rivaled her sister's for large size, and the same brown hair, though hers ran down to her waist, and her sister's stopped just below her shoulders. "If Stonefire is your enemy, then why are you not wearing Tamaranian clothing?"

"Two of Stonefire's daughters came to my planet," he explained. "And Stonefire tried to make them come back. Eventually that lead to him imprisoning them, and since I became their ally, he became my enemy."

"Which two daughters?" Juanand'es asked curiously. She was obviously the more excited of the two. "We have been locked away for at least five years, and we do not know much abut the Princesses."

"Starfire and Blazefire both came to Earth," he said.

"Those are their more queer names, though I do recall hearing them a few times," Juanand'es said.

"Their Tamaranian names," Juanit'es said coldly, "are Koriand'r and Krismand'r."

Slade shrugged. "Those names mean nothing to me," he said. "But Blazefire – I believe you said her name was Krismand'r – is in the prison cell next to yours, and we have formed an escape plan."

"None of our powers can break through this steel," Juanit'es said simply.

"Mine can."

Juanand'es's eyes widened. "How?" she asked.

"You have to agree to help us with the revolution we are stunting," Slade said. "You have the most valuable crime fighters on the planet we come from on your side. We can almost guarantee this time you will not fail."

"Anything to get us out of this cell," Juanand'es said quickly, but her sister looked more skeptical.

"How can we trust you?" she asked. "How can I not be sure you aren't just some spy of Stonefire, trying to get us to come with you so you can hang us the minute we reach fresh air?"

Slade opened up the communicator the Titans let him borrow, and sent for Starfire. "Starfire, tell them what's going on," he said.

At the sight of their loyal princess, Juanand'es and Juanit'es bowed respectfully.

"Um, thank you," Starfire said, blushing. "Zarfgarf namborsh Slade milgranch kleengta mina Teen Titans borschnarf kringatza Stonefire."

**(I know that those made-up words were cheesy, but we'll deal.)**

Juanand'es sent a pleading look to her sister, who still looked skeptical, but obviously carried high respect toward Starfire.

"Fine," she said to Slade, who closed his communicator. "We'll come with you."

Slade nodded, obviously pleased, and changed into a huge dinosaur with a big, pointy spike on his head. He then ran into the wall, his horn piercing through the hard metal, and into Blazefire's cell. Once they stepped into hers, he changed back.

"You did it!" Blazefire shrieked, hugging Slade.

"Please," he said stiffly, "get off. I'm still not the warm, fuzzy Batman I used to be." She laughed, and turned to the other two.

"Schligting zargnofxs," she said with a smile, and they bowed warmly, embracing in many hugs.

"Ready to fight?" Slade asked.

"Hardly," all three of the girls replied at the same time, but Slade ignored them and turned to look at the locked door in her cell.

"Aren't you going to do that dino-rammy-trick thing you did?" Blazefire asked him.

Slade shook his head. "They heard that, no doubt. They'll be coming in-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, about twenty guards came into the room (after unlocking the door), loaded with foreign weapons.

"Go!" Blazefire shouted, hurling blazebolts at the guards nearest to her. Slade used his powerful karate attacks on the guards near him as he watched Juanand'es and Juanit'es out of the corner of his eye. Even Blazefire nearly stopped fighting to see what they could do.

They faced each other and held both their hands. Their dark eyes glowed an eerie black with traces of other colors mixed in. Their brown hair swirled around them, and they began to spin, faster and faster, until…

…Suddenly a huge blast of dark light, bigger than Blazefire's display back when she was with the Titans, covered all of them. As soon as it came, it was gone, and all the guards were gone with it. The metal walls were still in place, but the guards had left the door open, so they stepped outside.

"Where are they?" Blazefire asked the other two. "Did they just _disappear_?"

"Our powers burned them too quickly to even reduce them to ashes," Juanand'es explained. "It's my favorite trick. It even burned their ashes, leaving no trace of them behind."

"We don't have to go very far," Slade explained. "The campfire is close by."

"Think you're ready to take Stonefire on again?" Blazefire asked the other two excitedly.

"Think?" Juanand'es asked with a snort. "_Know._"

"I do not eagerly await seeing his face now, but I do admit, seeing his face when he is finally dead will be quite satisfying," Juanit'es admitted.

"I don't think we're going to _kill _him," Blazefire said quickly.

"So you can kill me, but not him?" Slade asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Well, things have sort of changed with the Titans – I guess they realized that with Melanie, death won't help much. I think we're just going to lock him up here, or something."

Juanit'es nodded. "I suppose that is wise… but who is this Melanie?"

"You'll see," she replied. The other three were content with walking, but Blazefire was too eager to see Cyborg again. "Slade will show you two where to go," she said to them. "I'm going to go on ahead," she explained. Then she swiveled up into the air and shot off like a rocket. A few seconds later, she was above their camp. She dropped back to the ground and tiptoed behind Cyborg, putting a finger over her lips telling the others not to say anything.

"SURPRISE!" she shouted, hugging Cyborg from behind.

He laughed, and got up. Then he hugged her back. "You're okay!" he said with a smile. She wasn't _that _okay, as she hadn't eaten a proper meal in weeks, and she had been sleeping on metal floor, but she wasn't overwhelmingly hurt.

She smiled. "So are Juanit'es and Juanand'es."

"Sister!" Starfire gasped. "You have found the revolutionary sisters?"

Just as she asked that, Slade and the sisters came over to them.

"Princess Koriand'r," the sisters said at the exact same time. They quickly bowed their heads.

Starfire blushed. "Thank you," she said, just as she had done before.

"I guess this means we trust you," Robin said with a nod to Slade.

Raven looked at the sisters with untrusting yet interested eyes. "So, are you going to help us?" she asked them flatly.

"Certainly!" Juanand'es said immediately, her big dark eyes bright.

Juanit'es didn't look so excited. She narrowed her smaller eyes uneasily. "Do you really think you stand any sort of chance against Stonefire? Do you really know what you are up against?"

Blazefire snorted, resting her back on Cyborg's robotic chest. "He's been me and Flamey and Blackfire's dad for years, and we know exactly how terrible he is as a dad. Plus we've fought him head-on plenty of times."

Juanand'es looked intrigued. "Really? We never managed that," she said.

"Did you win?" Juanit'es asked coldly.

Blazefire narrowed her silver eyes at Juanit'es in disgust and challenge, but said nothing.

"We've gotten close," Robin explained. "But he has so many troops, and we haven't had any help from the civilians of Tamaran so far. With their help, I'm sure we can beat him."

Blackfire sighed. "Are you going to help us, or not?" she asked Juanit'es.

"I don't see why everyone is getting so worked up over my wariness," Juanit'es said defensively. "If you were frauds, or if you just couldn't do this, then that would be a perfect reason for me to question you, do you not agree?"

Starfire smiled politely. "Of _course _we agree," she said in a diplomatic voice. Blazefire coughed suggestively, but Starfire ignored her. "It is just that we are trying to time this properly and we wish to know what your choice is relatively soon," she said politely.

"Fine," Juanit'es said with a nod. "I shall fight with you."

"Me too!" Juanand'es said eagerly.

"We should make a plan," Cyborg said in a determined voice.

They all nodded in agreement, and then Melanie drew out their plan: they would have to find as many powerful allies as possible, since Stonefire already knew about the breakout. They wouldn't as local Tamaranians for their help yet, but they would find more superheroes from Earth.

"Who is there we can ask?" Beastboy asked thoughtfully.

"There's Aqualad – if he knows the trouble Tamaran's in, I'm sure he'd help," Cyborg said.

Robin nodded. "Good idea," he said. "And there's Speedy – I went in a competition against him once, and he's really good."

The normally bouncy Juanand'es looked fearful. "Who's this Speedy you speak of?" she asked uneasily.

Juanit'es looked ashamed of her sister.

Robin shrugged. "Fast, red hair, bow and arrow."

Juanit'es shook her head as Juanand'es sunk to the ground. "You know him?" Juanand'es asked.

"Obviously," Blazefire said, rolling her eyes. "And you do too?"

Melanie, Blackfire, and Blazefire scanned their faces for a moment before saying at the exact same time, "EX!"

Red X looked up in surprise – so far he hadn't been interested in the conversation. "What?"

"Not you," Melanie said, snorting.

Slade looked uncomfortable. "I see," he said.

"_Oh,"_ Raven said, wincing.

"What is this 'ex' you speak of?" Juanand'es asked.

"Did you used to go out with Speedy?" Blackfire asked, grinning with Blazefire and Melanie.

"What is this foolish 'go out' that you're talking about?" Juanit'es asked.

Blazefire groaned. "You're the worst," she said. She looked at Juanand'es straight on. "_Were you in love with Speedy?"_

"Yes," Juanand'es mumbled.

"This is ridiculous," Red X said stiffly. "We can't let some stupid relationship get in the way of Tamaran."

Blackfire nodded. "He's right, Juanand'es. Sorry, but you're going to have to act like nothing happened."

"But-" Juanand'es started.

"Nope," Blazefire said, cutting her off. "If high school students can do it, so can you."

"This wasn't a _high school_ relationship," Juanit'es said in her sister's defense. "They were engaged."

**Me:**

I am a moronic, stupid, pooheaded idiot and I'm sorry! I know I made you wait forever, but the end of summer was there and I had to go to Connecticut for a long time to visit with family, and then I had to get ready for school, and then I had to get in the feel of school, and I never had time! I'll finish this soon, I promise!

Oh yeah, I love you but I can't write a triquel to this. I mean I _could, _but I really want to start something new, since these are the only things I've written since I started fanfictions. So I think I'll move on, but I'd never think of erasing these!

Okay, review responses to my LOVELY reviewers:

**Jjangel9325232: **Sorry! My e-mail's Well I have two, actually. But that's the one I use more often.

**Warprince2000: **Thanks, I hope you're still loyal to me! Do you forgive me for taking so long? Maybe?

Meh. I guess they already gave up on me, because no one else reviewed! Oh well, hopefully they will this time.

SOOOO SORRY,

Kweenie


	21. Fast and Liquid Allies

I'M BACK!! And so's my story! I know I said it was abandoned, but I reread it the other day and decided it was totally lame and unfair of me to end it like that. What was I thinking? So I'll definitely finish this off for you, at the very least. and I'm SO SORRY. I MISSED YOU ALL!!

To refresh your memory, we're in the middle of a war on Tamaran. Twelve people are in the "army" right now, and they're waiting for Speedy and Aqualad to show up. We just rescued the Revolutionary Sisters, who are going to help with the revolution and fighting Stonefire.

I also decided to add in some Mel/Aqualad. In case you don't remember, Mel is sort of dating Aqualad, but I never wrote any firsthand on them, so this will have some of that, along with of course some RobStar, BBRae, and BlazeCy.

ENJOY!! I hope it's good enough to get you to forgive me a little. I'll add in some groveling at the end.

**Chapter 21: Fast and Liquid Allies**

There were twelve of them. Robin, Starfire, Beastboy, Raven, Cyborg, Blazefire, Blackfire, Melanie, Juanit'es, Juanand'es, Red X, and Slade were sitting in a circle, waiting.

"When will they get here?" asked Juana impatiently.

"You're eager?" asked Blazefire in surprise. "You said you and Speedy _were_ engaged. Past tense."

Juana said nothing, so her sister spoke. "They were in a fight when Juana was imprisoned," Juanit explained. "He probably felt terrible."

"Oh," said Melanie, nodding understandingly. "So there might be hope for you to get back together now."

"Does he know we freed her?" Beastboy asked.

"No, I didn't mention her," Robin told him. "He seemed eager to come, though."

Juana smiled softly. "At the very least, he shall be a wonderful ally to have," she said, and looked up at the sky.

Starfire looked at her curiously. She had only just met the revolutionary sisters, but they already struck her as very interesting. They had treated her like royalty, and yet she felt inferior to them. They both had grace beyond that of most Tamaranians; being around them was like being in the presence of someone truly regal.

They were different, though, just as Starfire was from her sisters. Juana was younger, more curious, with bigger, wider eyes and paler, younger skin. Juanit was more tired-looking, worn and eaten away at, and yet she was the more beautiful of the two.

"Something wrong, Your Highness?" Juanit asked Starfire, noticing the redhead's sad expression.

Starfire blinked for a second, then explained quietly, "You make me sad."

Robin turned to look at Starfire in surprise, gently touching her hand. "Why?"

"I have known her for only a few hours," Starfire said, not taking her eyes off Juanit. "And yet already I know that she would make a wondrous leader. Why is it that someone like this was in a jail cell for so long, and someone like my father is ruling my beautiful country?"

Juanit smiled. "Starfire, don't be fooled. That is no unfairness, but life itself. You must not be surprised by these things, because they happen constantly. The best we can do is fight them."

Starfire gave her a small smile. "You are wrong," she told Juanit respectfully. "The best we can do is win."

Everyone seemed to revel in these words for a few seconds, Raven slouching onto Beastboy's shoulder and Blazefire settling into Cyborg's chest, until they were interrupted by a very loud, abrupt wind. A face appeared a second later, and once the dust cleared, a body.

Robin grinned. "Speedy. Good to see you."

Speedy nodded back at him in a very chill, nonchalant way before turning to look at the rest of the army. He froze in his tracks when he laid eyes on Juana.

She didn't seem to be able to speak.

"Thank you for coming," said Juanit, clapping her hands to get Speedy's attention. Even then, he had to force himself to look away from Juana. "Have you talked to Aqualad?"

A short squeal came from Melanie, who had been casually dating Aqualad for some time now. They weren't too serious, but she liked seeing him all the same.

"He'll be here soon," Speedy replied, but the coolness he'd had upon arrival was gone. "Not as fast as me." Everyone laughed, but Robin had a feeling Speedy hadn't even meant to make a joke.

"Cy," said Blazefire abruptly, sitting up and turning to look at her boyfriend. "That thing you were telling me about. Let's go see it."

"Yeah, didn't you say you wanted me to see that, too?" asked Beastboy, standing up and taking Raven's hand. The four of them left, followed shortly by Robin and Starfire. Slade said something about fresh air, and Blackfire and Red X didn't bother with excuses, but left. Melanie got out her communicator and walked away to see where Aqualad was. That left Juanit, Juana, and Speedy.

"Well, they're not obvious," Speedy offered sarcastically, trying to be funny. His nervousness overshot and killed the joke.

"A lot has changed, Speedy," warned Juanit. "Be careful. That's all I have to say." And she left.

Speedy heaved a deep sigh before turning to look at Juana. "Hey," he finally said. "How've you been?"

She actually laughed, but it was a cold, surprisingly stingy laugh, especially for such an innocent person. "How've I _been_?" she demanded. "I've been in a prison cell for years! How do you _think _I've been?"

His jaw tightened. He obviously didn't like the thought of her being in a prison cell any more than she did. "Juana," he said softly. "If I could go back, I'd change everything."

"Do you even remember?" she asked, her dark eyes watering. "I don't even remember, Speed. I don't know what the hell we were fighting over that day."

"I was jealous," he replied. "I remember. There was some guy who had been helping with your revolution while I was stuck on Earth, and I thought you had a thing for him."

"Yeah," she said, and shook her head. "Why?"

"Because you were worlds away from me," he said, "and without you, I couldn't think straight."

She let herself smile a little.

"Imagine how I've been all these years."

"A bit better than me, I'd say," she replied, but she was less harsh now. She ran a hand through her dark hair—like Juanit, all her features were dark—and said, "Look, I don't know where we should go from here. But I think we need to deal with the revolution first. You in this time?"

He smiled. "You bet. Wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

* * *

Shortly after leaving Speedy and Juana behind, Blazefire and Cyborg separated from the others. Blazefire turned to give Cyborg a wide, excited smile, and he took his hands in hers.

"It's so good to have you back," he said gently, touching her cheek.

"It's so good to _be_ back," she replied, standing on her toes to kiss him. "And to actually be making a difference in this place," she added, gesturing to everything around her.

She meant Tamaran. He understood; her country had been under the unfair rule of her father for too long, and he knew the change meant everything to her. "They deserve it. _You _deserve it, too. Once Aqualad gets here, I don't think your father stands a chance."

She smiled and kissed him again, but in the pit of her stomach there was a twinge that told her he was wrong.

* * *

"Hey," said Aqualad in Melanie's communicator. She squinted to make out the background behind him and saw that he was in outer space, in some kind of water bubble.

"Weird," she said, accidentally thinking out loud. He laughed.

"Sorry I couldn't get here as fast as Speedy," he said, "but that's not my superpower. They okay with waiting?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Speedy and his ex-fiancé need some time to themselves, anyway."

He raised his eyebrows. "_Juana_?" he asked. "She's free?"

"Yeah," Melanie replied. "We freed her—at least, Slade and Blaze did. I helped."

He smiled knowingly. "I bet you did all the work, Mel," he said charmingly, but part of it made her think he was only saying it to please her.

"Hey," she said. "Is now an okay time for a… talk?"

He was silent for a second; obviously he knew it wasn't anything good. "Hang on," he said, and she saw the background of space in her communicator begin to flash, as if he had increased speed a lot. The communicator clicked off, and she looked up to see the bubble plummeting almost directly in front of her. Aqualad landed on his feet and shook the bubble away. His long, dark hair was wet, and he was as attractive as ever.

"Hey," she managed. Seeing him again was a bit unnerving.

"Hey," he replied, obviously feeling the same way. He stared at her for a second, breathtaken. The thing he liked most about Melanie was that she had no idea how incredible she was. She'd had some boyfriends and didn't exactly have a bad ego, but she was one of the most amazing girls he had ever met, and she didn't know it at all. She had been through so much, and she had no active power, and yet she fought with all her heart alongside the best crime fighters in the world.

"What'd you want to talk about?" he asked, gently touching her arm. He was disappointed to see that she flinched.

"Just… us," she said, feeling bad for being so confusing.

"Us?" he repeated. "Mel, what's wrong?"

"Well, I want to know where we… stand." She hated awkward conversations like this. "It's just, I've been around couples like Blaze and Cy, Robin and Star, and Rae and BB for so long, I want to act like you're that kind of boyfriend to me. But I don't know if that's out of line."

Aqualad looked at her thoughtfully for a second before smiling. "Well, I haven't seen any of them together," he said, "but I have a feeling we could top them." As he spoke, he gave her a heart-melting grin and took her hands.

She smiled, too, exhaling with relief. "Okay," she said, "awesome. It's just, we've been mostly casual since we started, and—"

But he interrupted her with a kiss she felt all the way down to her toes. And she knew from that kiss that there was no longer anything casual about them.

* * *

"Guys, meeting!" Robin shouted from the campfire. Blackfire glanced back, but didn't move. She and Red X had been sitting in silence for some time, but it wasn't an awkward silence at all. It was almost magnetic, enough that she didn't want to get up and leave.

"What's on your mind?" asked Red X, looking at her curiously.

"Us," she replied. Blackfire had never been the kind of girl to skitter around her feelings, not telling the truth. It was better to put them out in the open and get rejected than to live in question indefinitely. And whether or not he had given up everything for Starfire, he was here now.

"_Us _us?" he asked, seeming a little surprised.

She rolled her violet eyes. "You were thinking it, too," she said. "You just weren't saying it."

He hesitated, then laughed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. So what about us, then?"

She didn't know where to begin. "Honestly," she said, "since we were kids, Star and I have overanalyzed _everything_. We think about things a lot before we do them, and we're not very spontaneous. Blazefire took all of that."

He laughed. "So you've been analyzing us, then? How are we?"

"We're a pretty decent match," she replied, grinning a little as he got the surprised look again, "but I don't know if we'd make it, anyway. I'd always be insecure because you love Star—"

"No, I don't," he said quickly. "Not any more."

She shrugged. "About a month ago you did. And if you can give up love for her that quickly, why should I trust you?"

He didn't argue. She was right, after all.

"And the other thing is… it sucks. The idea of us getting together. Like, it's cool, if not for everyone else. Look around. Everyone's paired off—_everyone._ Star and Robin, Rae and BB, Blaze and Cy, now even Mel and Aqualad and, apparently, Juana and Speedy."

He laughed again. "That _is _kind of extreme."

"Yeah. The only single ones left are Slade and Juanit, and I wouldn't be surprised if they got together, either."

"And us," he added. "Or are we not single?"

She raised a challenging eyebrow. "You tell me."

He grinned and nodded. "Okay. Well, since we're in the middle of a war and I haven't gotten to know you well enough yet, I wouldn't say you're my girlfriend. But if I saw you with another guy, I'd still probably want to beat the crap out of him."

She grinned. "I like it. Let's keep it that way for a while."

He smiled. "Sounds good. Now we should probably go see what Robin wants."

* * *

"A plan," Robin said to the thirteen people gathered around him. "A really, really good plan. My idea is to start over with the siege. With Juana and Juanit on our side, we can probably find tons of civilians who'd be willing to help us."

"But wouldn't we be _hurting_ the civilians by laying siege?" Blazefire challenged. "If we want them as our allies, we shouldn't cut off their supplies. It was different before."

"She's right," Cyborg agreed. He knew they'd probably judge him for agreeing with her, but he didn't care; she was. "There's other ways of getting this done. We don't want to hurt anyone but the king, his army, and his really… what's the word?"

Blackfire grinned. "Hardcore?"

Cyborg laughed and nodded. "His really _hardcore_ followers. Not just the ones who refuse to take part in an incredibly dangerous revolution."

Robin nodded. "Yeah," he said, "you're right. Then let's toss the siege idea—what instead?"

"I do not think we should 'toss' it," said Starfire.

"Not _literally_, Star—"

"I _know_ that," she said, laughing a little, "but I do not think that is wise. We should lay siege to the capital city only, with the help of the people producing the goods."

"Wow," said Slade, obviously impressed. "Didn't know she had it in her."

Robin turned to glare at Slade, but Red X interrupted the oncoming feud. "Okay, it's a good idea," he said. "We shouldn't exactly wrap around the city in a perimeter, though—that's for later. We don't want to fight his toughest remaining troops without harming them first."

"We should fight them, though, if they try to come to the other cities to see why they aren't getting their supplies," chimed in Raven. "It's too dangerous not to."

"Agreed," said Juana sagely. "Protecting the civilians is the first priority."

"Okay," said Robin. "Juana, Juanit, why don't you split up—go with Aqualad and Speedy around Tamaran. Bring us back your most trustworthy, loyal old followers, okay?"

Cyborg, who was still technically the leader, added, "Rae, X, you two should go with Juana as bodyguards. Lana and I can go with Juanit."

Blazefire grinned, obviously ready for action. Raven and Red X also seemed ready, although they were a little confused as to why they had been chosen. It had been mostly random, but also because he knew that drama would ensue if he'd told Beastboy to go with Raven.

"Okay, then, it's settled," Robin said, and heaved a sigh. "Let the war begin."

Starfire smiled, taking his hand. "No, Robin," she said, "this war began a long time ago."

* * *

How was it?? I couldn't remember the length of the rest of my chapters, so I'm not sure if this was short or long. If you have a preference, just say in your review and I'll see if I can make these shorter or longer.

I'm so glad to be back! It's so weird that it's been two years. I don't really know why I stopped—I started getting into new things and just lost interest, I guess. But don't worry, it won't happen again—I'm having fun with this. I just hope the old crowd of reviewers are still here, because you guys were one of my favorite parts of writing.

Well, I hope you liked it!! Next chapter's dedicated to everyone who comes back to me. I love you!!

R&R like you used to :) -kweenie.


End file.
